Dexter takes advantage of wayward Northants

Leicestershire 311 for 5 (Dexter 98, Robson 56) v Northamptomshire
Scorecard

Alex Wakely is not the first visiting captain to be mislead by a green tinged Grace Road pitch, but the Northamptonshire skipper is entitled to feel his bowlers did not make the most of the conditions after he chose to field first.

Not in the first two sessions anyway, at the end of which Leicestershire were ominously well positioned on 223 for 2. The final session saw the visiting seamers finally find a more consistent line and length, but while they restricted the scoring rate and picked up three more wickets, the damage had largely been done.

Rory Kleinveldt did make an early breakthrough after Wakely exercised the away side's new right to bowl first, a rare well-pitched up delivery from the South African seaming back in to Paul Horton to trap the opener leg before for 12. In general, however, the Northants seamers pitched too short and wide, allowing Angus Robson and Neil Dexter to leave far too high a proportion of deliveries, and giving away an extraordinary number of byes, many in boundaries.

Robson, who took 26 balls to get off the mark, continued to play patiently, hitting 30 off 93 balls before the break. Dexter, who made 131 in his previous innings at Grace Road, played more fluently, hitting six boundaries in going to 38 off 63 balls.

Wakely kept four slips in place throughout much of the morning, but neither batsman gave a chance before Robson's vigil ended on 56, given leg before to the young fast bowler Ollie Stone, making his first first-class appearance of the season for the visitors. Dexter continued to accumulate steadily, bringing up his 50 off 81 balls.

Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove should have been dismissed on just 4, when he drove at Stone and Richard Levi could not hold a low chance at third slip, and he was dropped again by Wakely on 34, at second slip off Azharullah.  Wakely left the field after the drop, and did not return before the close.

It was a relief for the visitors when Dexter, on 98, simply played down the wrong line at a straight ball from Azharullah, while Cosgrove, on 47, also suffered a lapse in concentration, cutting at a delivery from occasional offspinner Jake Libby and edging a catch to Kleinveldt at slip.

Leicestershire had passed 300 when Kleinveldt, with the second new ball, had Mark Pettini edging to slip, having made 23 from 73 balls, but with Niall O'Brien played steadily, Leicestershire had every prospect of passing 400 for the fourth time in as many first innings this season.