Yuzvendra Chahal and Rob Keogh spun Northamptonshire into a strong position on the first day of their County Championship Division Two match against Leicestershire at Northampton.
The duo, instrumental in Northamptonshire's win last week, combined to take seven wickets, restricting Leicestershire to 203 after they chose to bat first. Chahal impressed with figures of 4-82, while Keogh supported him with 3-20.
Leicestershire opener Sol Budinger’s 56 was the only significant contribution as the visitors struggled against the spin attack. James Sales remained unbeaten on 34, guiding Northamptonshire to 134-3 in response by the close of play.
Earlier in the day, Rishi Patel fell to a low catch by Saif Zaib off Jack White, and Ian Holland was bowled for 12 after facing almost an hour, undone by Chahal’s third ball. Keogh sent Lewis Hill back to the pavilion, and Budinger, after reaching his first half-century of the season, was trapped lbw by White.
Leicestershire's innings briefly picked up pace when Rehan Ahmed hit two sixes off Chahal but was caught at long-off attempting a third. Ben Cox missed a swing, adding another wicket to Chahal’s tally, while Liam Trevaskis unbeaten 25 helped push Leicestershire past 200 as the tail was wrapped up by the spinners.
Northamptonshire’s reply began solidly with Luke Procter scoring 38 from 36 balls before he was caught behind, chasing a wide one from Scott Currie. Currie also trapped George Bartlett lbw for a duck, while Gus Miller contributed a steady 37 before falling to Tom Scriven. Sales and Keogh then guided Northamptonshire to within 69 runs of Leicestershire’s total by stumps.
Match Summary:
- Leicestershire 203 (Budinger 56; Chahal 4-82, Keogh 3-20)
- Northamptonshire 134-3 (Procter 38, Miller 37; Currie 2-26) trail by 69 runs with 7 wickets in hand.