Sanderson knows Northants need a big start to day three at Lancashire

Ben Sanderson is ready for a big first session on the third day of Northants' Specsavers County Championship Division Two clash with Lancashire.
Ben SandersonBen Sanderson
Ben Sanderson

And the pace bowler fully believes his side are still well in the game at Emirates Old Trafford.Lancashire now lead Northants, who were all out for 230, by 46 runs with four first-innings wickets remaining.Dane Vilas, who is unbeaten on 30, and Tom Bailey, who is on 42 not out, will be the men in the middle on Thursday morning.And Sanderson said: "We need to go bang-bang early in the morning and if we can get Vilas out, we feel Lancs have got quite a long tail."It was tough out there after the new ball wore off and they batted well. "We bowled very tight and concentrated on hitting the top of the off-stump. "They didn’t come at us much, which I thought was quite strange."They kept us in the game and we felt that if we got a couple of wickets, we’d be right back in the game. And that’s what we did do in the end."We’d not had much luck but Luke Wood (who took three for 44) bowled brilliantly with the new ball and it was nice to get a few late wickets."Lancashire batsman Rob Jones made 67 before being trapped LBW by Wood.

And Jones said: "It’s been a tough day’s cricket, quite attritional with the way the wicket is. "If you bowl in good areas at the top of the stumps it’s quite hard to score. "There were periods today that you just had to get through and then unfortunately we lost a few wickets with the new ball."But Tom Bailey and Dane Vilas batted brilliantly there to get us into the lead and we will hope to get as many runs as we can tomorrow."It’s good to get in a battle like that and all you need is two or three fours to get the momentum back. "Keaton (Jennings) is great to bat with. We just say 'next ball' to each other and that’s all you have to concentrate on. "We thought at tea that we might have the chance to bat once and bat big but they bowled well with the new ball."It’s a new-ball wicket and that’s key, especially with our bowling attack. "We’ll look to get as many as we can and then make our own inroads with the new ball."