Mixed emotions for Darren Lehmann as Northants come up short against leaders Durham

A match that ebbed and flowed throughout, ended on Monday evening with the home side clinching a crucial victory with just 16 balls to spare to stretch their lead at the top of the table to 32 points.

With six matches of the season remaining, they are now 34 clear of Northants, who have dropped below Kent into third place following the south east county's win over Middlesex, with two promotion spots up for grabs.

Head coach Lehmann was proud of his players for the effort they put into the game, but was left frustrated that his team came up short in a couple of key moments.

Northants held the upper hand for long spells, having been sitting very pretty at 191 without loss in their first innings, before being bowled out for 450.

Durham were struggling at 270 for seven in reply before being allowed to rally to 405, and Northants then stumbled again with the bat in their second innings, falling from a promising 107 for two to 250 all out.

Again they had Durham on the ropes, reducing them to 107 for four in their pursuit of 296 to win, but a brilliant unbroken partnership between David Bedingham (109no) and Colin Ackermann (65no) saw them home with 2.4 overs to spare.

"It was a great advertisement for the county game again, it was just fantastic," Lehmann told BBC Northampton..

"It was a great game of four-day cricket to watch, and we certainly loved watching it.

"The result was disappointing in the end, but I can't fault the effort.

"We were probably only 20 runs short and we missed out a bit there, but they kept coming at us.

"We were on top at four for a hundred but then Bedingham played really well, and we didn't do too much wrong. It was only the little things that were the difference.

"The bowling was excellent, and it was a good pitch."

Durham are the only unbeaten team in the country in red ball cricket, and are able to call on internationals such as Matthew Potts and, for the first two days at least, England captain Ben Stokes.

They are well on course to regain the division one status they lost last season, and Lehmann was delighted with his his team shaped up against quality opposition.

"We pushed them all the way," said the Australian. "Durham won the toss and bowled, so they were obviously worried about us because it was a bat first wicket.

"But we just fell a bit short in the second innings and that's the only difference.

"I thought we bowled well and controlled the game up until that partnership.

"At four for a hundred you think 'we are in the game', but we just couldn't break that partnership.

"They played really well and that's what good sides do.

"That is when we have got to get that extra wicket or take that extra catch or score those extra 20 runs.

"Durham played well and fair play to them, they hung in there, but full credit to our blokes as well because I was really proud of them and the way they went about it."

Northants now take a break from County Championship action as they return to Vitality Blast action with a home date against Essex at the cinch County Ground on Friday night (start 6.30pm).

The Steelbacks go into that game sitting top of the Central & West Group, having won six out of six so far.