Northants fight back after Hughes ton

Northamptonshire 201 and 181 for 2 v Derbyshire 319
Scorecard

A brilliant career best 156 from teenager Chesney Hughes put Derbyshire on top before the Northamptonshire batsmen hit back in their County Championship match at Chesterfield.

The 19-year-old Anguillan scored his second century in only his eighth first-class game out of 319 to give his side a first innings lead of 118 but, by the close, unbeaten fifties from Ben Howgego and David Sales had taken Northamptonshire to 181 for 2.

Zimbabwean all-rounder Elton Chigumbura took 5 for 92 - his best figures for Northamptonshire - but the visitors bowled poorly on the second morning which began with the game finely poised.

Derbyshire started the day on 124 for 5 but Hughes and Robin Peterson smashed 51 in the first 30 minutes and 72 had come from the first 10 overs before the visitors broke through. Peterson had scored 58 from 48 balls when he edged a drive at Lee Daggett low to second slip to end a sixth-wicket stand of 98 in 14 overs which had carried Derbyshire to within five runs of Northamptonshire's 201.

Hughes had been dropped on 82 in the slips in the previous over off Andrew Hall and that proved costly as Derbyshire's last four wickets added 123. He reached his second hundred by clipping Gavin Baker off his pads for his 17th four and moved to 136 by the end of the morning session in which Derbyshire had scored 150 runs from only 29 overs.

Chigumbura returned to the attack after lunch to take his fifth wicket by bowling Steffan Jones but Hughes completed his 150 by cover driving Hall for his 26th four before he lost his off stump in the South African's next over. Northamptonshire made a bad start to their second innings when Mal Loye edged a lifting ball from Steffan Jones to first slip in the third over and they were 25 for two when Alex Wakely was needlessly run out.

Wakely played the ball into the covers and called for a single but was well beaten by Wayne Madsen's direct hit and Northamptonshire would have been in deep trouble if Sales had not been dropped on 27. He gloved a ball from Tim Groenewald down the leg side but Steve Adshead could not hold on as he dived to his left and Sales and Howgego batted through the remaining 36 overs of the day.

Sales passed 50 for only the third time this season and Howgego completed his first half-century in his 11th first-class game to put the contest back on an even keel. By stumps, they had shared a third-wicket stand of 156 in 49 overs to give Northamptonshire a lead of 63 with Sales on 84 and Howgego unbeaten on 74.