Northants pile on the misery

Leicestershire 47 for 2 trail Northamptonshire 567 for 7 dec (Coetzer 219, Hall 103, Middlebrook 84)
Scorecard

Division Two leaders Northamptonshire look on course for a fifth win of the season after taking complete control of their LV= County Championship clash against Leicestershire at Grace Road.

Leicestershire limped to 47 for 2, still needing another 371 runs to avoid the follow-on, before rain brought a premature end to the second day.

Northamptonshire added another 247 runs to their overnight 320 for 4 before declaring on 567 for 7 in mid-afternoon. Kyle Coetzer made a career best 219, Andrew Hall hit his third century of the season and James Middlebrook hammered a quickfire 84. The declaration left Leicestershire with 10 overs to face before tea and they made a poor start

Niall O'Brien gloved a catch behind off a lifting delivery from David Willey without scoring and Lee Daggett took a stinging return catch off his own bowling to dismiss Greg Smith for 9. That made it 19 for 2, but Ned Eckersley and Joe Burns stayed together until the tea interval, when the rain swept in to prevent any further play.

And an unsettled weather forecast for the next two days could represent bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire's best hope of avoiding defeat after Northamptonshire ruthlessly stamped their mark on the game.

Coetzer began the day on 150 with Hall 65 not out. It was Hall who was the aggressor in the opening overs, scoring 35 runs off 32 balls to reach his century off 144 balls with 16 boundaries.

But he was out for 103 when he drove a catch to cover off Nathan Buck, ending a fifth wicket stand of 175 in 46 overs. There was still no respite for Leicestershire with Middlebrook sharing a partnership of 100 with Coetzer. The only disappointment for Northamptonshire was that they missed out on maximum batting points by just five runs.

But Coetzer continued to pile on the misery for the home side, reaching the first double hundred of his career off 371 balls with a six and 32 fours. When he was finally out for 219, caught behind edging a wide delivery from Alex Wyatt, he had faced 402 balls and batted for just over eight and a half hours.

Middlebrook looked set to become the third centurion of the innings until he skied a catch off Rob Taylor having made 84 off 115 balls with 13 fours. The fall of his wicket brought the declaration, leaving Steven Crook unbeaten on 47. Wyatt was the most successful Leicestershire bowler taking 3 for 107 in 33 overs.