Aussie quicks give Darren Lehmann county lift-off
Darren Lehmann has enjoyed his first win as Northamptonshire coach in the county championship -- with a little bit of help from two Australian quick bowlers, Harry Conway and Liam Guthrie.
The two pacemen grabbed half of Lancashire's wickets between them over the three-day contest at Wantage Road and even the best efforts of another Aussie Marcus Harris, the leading scorer in English cricket this season, wasn't enough to prevent a 70-run defeat on Sunday.
Former Test batter Lehmann has sworn by the efforts of his two Australian recruits, and he was rewarded again as South Australia's Conway, who took eight wickets on debut in his last match, finished with match figures of 5-84 while Queensland's Guthrie took 5-106.
On a pulsating day's cricket, No.10 Guthrie, who had scored an invaluable 42 in the first innings, played another big part with the bat, notching 18 valuable runs in a ninth-wicket partnership of 81 while big-hitting Ben Sanderson was smashing a 28-ball 65 at the other end.
Those runs helped the home side set Lancashire a much tougher target of 236 on a tricky pitch and Guthrie then dismissed both the visiting openers to leave Harris having to try to steer them back on course.
The Australian, who scored 121 in the first innings, again looked on course for a seventh score above 50 this season as he moved smoothly on to 43 off 73 balls, with seven fours, only to have a bit of a rush of blood to the head as he tried to hit legspinner Calvin Harrison out of the park and got stumped.
It was the beginning of the end for Lancashire as Conway bowled Matty Hurst with a beauty and had George Balderson caught behind for another duck, while Harrison ripped through the middle order with figures of 4-32. Guthrie finished the job by dismissing last man Will Williams with Lancs all out for 165.
It was enough to push Nothamptonshire up to mid-table in the second division, while Lancashire, who had been tipped for promotion, are rock bottom at the moment.
That's despite Harris's runs. The 32-year-old now has a total of 749 runs in 10 knocks at an average of 83.22 and his fifth boundary on Sunday made him the first man to hit a hundred fours in county cricket this season.
Meanwhile, Glamorgan have confirmed that their ever popular import Marnus Labuschagne will be back to face Northamptonshire this week in Cardiff, as well as playing Middlesex the following week, as he warms up for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's.
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