Yuzvendra Chahal stars again as Northants complete a three-day win

Leicestershire resumed on 69 for four at the beginning of the day, still 111 runs behind. Lewis Hill (14), their skipper, was shortly lost as Yuzvendra Chahal began to work. The stumping was completed by keeper Lewis McManus after Chahal turned a pitch that pitched on middle and beat Hill’s outside edge.

Though he was part of a dramatic Leicestershire comeback, Scott Currie’s heroic maiden first-class century proved in vain as Northamptonshire achieved back-to-back first-class triumphs for the first time in five years to the day.

Sent in as a nightwatcher, Currie maintained his composure as Leicestershire fell down by 88 runs on the third morning of this Vitality County Championship encounter at Wantage Road after losing three early wickets. A total shift in strategy was signalled by the introduction of Tom Scriven (48 off 66 balls), who together with Currie regained control of the game with an offensive partnership of 101 in 21 overs either side of lunch.

As the tide turned and Leicestershire began to gather a slim lead, Sam Wood, who blasted 57 off 91 balls (5 fours, 3 sixes), joined Currie in another significant partnership worth 110 in 23.3 overs. After spending over four hours at the wicket, Currie eventually called it a day after facing 192 balls and hitting 15 fours and two sixes.

By virtue of both partnerships, Leicestershire were able to set their hosts 137 to win. Although they took an early wicket, the victory was secured by nine wickets thanks to half-centuries made by George Bartlett (54 off 91 balls) and skipper Luke Procter (68 off 76 balls) in an uninterrupted stand of 120.

For the second straight game, Indian international Yuzvendra Chahal (5 for 134) took five wickets, and Northamptonshire mainstay Ben Sanderson chipped in with his 400th first-class wicket.

After Ben Cox (8) was trapped leg before wicket by Chahal, James Sales made a brilliant catch at short leg to dismiss Liam Trevaskis (2) and set up Sanderson’s historic scalp.

Currie, meanwhile, had established himself as a reliable presence at the opposite end while on a season-long loan from Hampshire. Except from that textbook cover drive off Sanderson, he was happy to bat in his own zone.

But instead of waiting for wickets to fall, Leicestershire pushed the throttle thanks to Scriven, who gave the innings the necessary energy. From the first over, Scriven went in the right direction, hitting Chahal over mid-on to raise Leicestershire’s score to 100 before removing Sanderson for another four.

Currie began to play his shots as well. When the seventh wicket fell, he was barely 16 off 72 balls, but he immediately gained several more runs. By swiping dismissively past midwicket and hitting him over long off, he turned the tables on Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner gave up 19 runs in a costly over, with Currie pulling for six before Scriven hit back-to-back boundaries with the slog and reverse sweeps to raise the partnership to 50.

Even after being dropped at short midwicket, Scriven persisted in his assault, hitting Chahal over long-on for a massive six as Leicestershire reached 172 for seven at lunch, behind by just eight runs—a remarkable achievement considering the circumstances earlier in the day.

After the break, they got going again quite well, with Currie hitting Justin Broad for four to put Leicestershire ahead. However, Broad quickly made the breakthrough, hitting middle stump out of the ground to deny Scriven a well-deserved half-century.

Currie smashed his previous best score of 72 as he proceeded to find the boundary, drawing Broad with confidence before smashing him through deep point. With a smooth cover shot off Chahal, he reached his eighties with ease and reached his century off 159 balls.

Wood, however, continued where Scriven had left off, cutting and driving the turf with ease and smashing Chahal for three sixes.

Currie’s lengthy stay was ultimately stopped by Chahal, who also grabbed his fifth wicket in the process with a ball that twisted and took the edge before McManus caught it behind. After hurting his hand in the field yesterday, Louis Kimber entered the game at number eleven and hit four runs before being bowled out by Saif Zaib to end the innings.

After driving Holland for four, Gus Miller (11) started Northamptonshire’s run chase. However, Wood repositioned his stumps, leaving the hosts with a 17-for-1 lead. Bartlett and Procter, on the other hand, played the seamers with relative ease, beginning to get the necessary runs in ones and twos along with some streaky boundaries.

Rehan Ahmed was met by Procter, who swept him high over deep midwicket for six. A few overs later, Bartlett took another maximum off the England leg spinner, this time over long-on.

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Procter reached the century partnership in 124 deliveries with two consecutive boundaries off Wood, and then Sol Budinger gave him the winning run with a boundary down the ground. Each of the two batters who were not out finished with seven fours and one six.