Hegg leads Lancashire to unlikely victory

Lancashire secured their first Championship victory at Northampton since 1979, thanks to a superb unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 136 between Warren Hegg and Glen Chapple.

The pair come together with the visitors, needing 302 to beat Northamptonshire in an enthralling Division One encounter, in trouble at 169-7. They did the job in style with Hegg cracking two sixes and nine fours in his 107 not out from 158 balls, while Chapple supported magnificently with an unbeaten 72.

It was a galling day for Northamptonshire paceman Darren Cousins. He claimed 8-102 against Yorkshire at Headingley last weekend, and followed up with 7-120 against Lancashire - only to finish on the losing side both times.

And the hosts were made to pay dearly for dropping Chapple before he had scored, Jason Brown failing to cling on to a fierce return drive.

Lancashire looked dead and buried as they crumbled to 68-5 before lunch. Cousins accounted for Mark Chilton and Andrew Flintoff early on, and then removed skipper John Crawley and Tim Roberts in the space of four balls.

Hegg and Neil Fairbrother began the recovery, but it was only when Chapple joined Hegg that Lancashire began to sense an unlikely triumph. Their stand set a new eighth-wicket record for the county against Northants, eclipsing the 106 posted by Steve O'Shaughnessy and David Makinson in 1986.

For their part, Northants were left to reflect once again on the lack of bowling support for the heroic Cousins.