Rob ready to help Northants finish the job against Lancashire

Rob Keogh is ready for a big conclusion to Northants' Specsavers County Championship Division Two clash with Lancashire.
Rob KeoghRob Keogh
Rob Keogh

The County are in a commanding position, having bowled their title-chasing opponents out for 315.

Keogh (3-43) claimed the key wicket of Alex Davies for 147 and Northants then used the new ball to devastating effect.

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Lancashire slipped from 290 for five to 315 all out, with Ben Sanderson (4-62) and Brett Hutton (3-77) doing the damage.

That meant Northants held a 127-run lead heading into the second innings, and they overcame a tricky start to hammer home their advantage.

The County were 14 for three after losing Ricardo Vasconcelos, Richard Levi and Temba Bavuma, but Keogh (74) and Rob Newton (48) helped them to rebuild.

They finished the third day on 214 for six, leading by 341 runs.

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And Keogh said: “We knew that they have quite a long lower-order and we had the new ball coming so it was ideal to bowl them out and get a good lead.

“I managed to burgle Alex Davies and to have a new batsman facing the new ball was crucial.

“It's very tough against the new ball and me and Newts had to rebuild and our partnership has helped but us in a really good position.

“If we can come out in the morning and score some quick runs hopefully we can give ourselves 90 overs to try to bowl them out.”

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Second-placed Lancashire started the match 42 points ahead of Northants in the standings.

But they now face a real battle to take anything from their trip to Northampton.

Lancashire batsman Steven Croft said: “Obviously we want to try to save the game, build a foundation but then you never know.

"When a partnership has formed on this pitch, it’s been fast scoring so if we can get in it’s our responsibility to go big.

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“We’ve dominated most games this season to keep our loss column at zero would be a good achievement.

"We haven’t been quite right with bat or ball but if we save the game we can show what good scrappers we are."