Northants head coach Ripley taking the positives out of rain-affected draw with Leicestershire

Day two was a complete washout at the County Ground, but Northants had arguably the better of a contest that saw the home side declare their second innings on 206 for six after tea on Thursday, a lead of 212.

Northants had made 299 all out on day one, and then early on day four they dismissed the Foxes for 293, with Ben Sanderson and Matt Coles both grabbing three wickets.

South African import Temba Bavuma then scored 68 in the County's second innings, with Alex Wakely adding 46 to his first innings 65.

“It’s been a positive three days for us," said head coach Ripley.

"It was a perfect day for bowling on day one and we batted really well to limit the damage and in the end we got a very competitive score.

“When we bowled, we were maybe a yard short but we did in the end take a first innings lead which is always a good sign."

Ripley was especially pleased that Bavuma made a half-century, as although he has made plenty of starts so far this summer, he has failed to capitalise.

“Temba has made some promising starts," said Ripley. "We’ve only seen glimpses of his qualities, but he’s working hard and I’m pleased he’s got a score and there’s more games left for him to get a hundred.”

Leicestershire head coach Paul Nixon rued his side's dropped catches on day one, and felt they cost the visitors any chance of forcing victory.

“We’ve played good cricket in parts," said the former England man.

"They way we played against the new ball was pleasing and we set a platform to get past their score in the first innings.

"The pitch was always doing plenty even at the end with an old ball so it was good cricket wicket and gave us a chance.

“But you can’t win a match dropping seven or eight catches and had we bowled them out for 220, then we could have batted them out of the game.

"We didn’t play well this morning either but we still had belief we could win and we put them under pressure today."

Northants return to Championship action on Sunday when they travel to Sussex.