Under-fire India find little respite as Northants triumph

India were bowled out within six overs of the start of play on Saturday with Amit Mishra making 61 and Luke Evans completing career-best figures of 4-74.

The injured Zaheer did have a brief spell just before lunch – at a cost of 24 runs – as openers Mal Loye (100) and Niall O’Brien (117) smashed their way to centuries.

Their 201-run stand paved the way for the County Championship Second Division leaders to claim victory with two balls to spare.

Mishra, Munaf Patel and Shantha Sreesanth each took two wickets as the tourists’ attack eventually found some joy in the final session.

India started the day on 327-7 with Mishra resuming on 48 and Sreesanth on 15 and the former completed his half-century off 102 deliveries from the first ball of the day.

Sreesanth made it to 25 before departing when substitute fielder Rob Keogh took a fantastic one-handed catch at first slip off Evans, who wrapped up the innings when he sent Mishra’s off stump spinning.

Rain stopped play after Northamptonshire had faced seven overs leading to an early lunch being taken, though no overs were lost to the delay.

Loye was the first to reach 50 off 77 balls and Ireland international O’Brien followed suit from 83 deliveries.

Loye completed his first century in over a year in the first over of the evening session, off 145 balls, before he finally departed when he launched Patel to India’s Test captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was taking time out from behind the wicket and fielding at deep cover.

O’Brien then hung around to make his hundred off 167 deliveries before he finally perished when he swept Mishra to Dhoni – this time at third man.

The same bowler trapped Rob White lbw for 25 three balls later and then the wickets were tumbling with Rob Newton the next out when he edged Patel to Virat Kohli at third slip.

Northamptonshire captain David Sales (11) was then pinned lbw by Sreesanth before David Willey (12) pulled the same man to another substitute, Praveen Kumar, at deep square leg.

Paul Best was trapped leg before by Suresh Raina for just a single but wicketkeeper David Murphy and David Burton survived the rest of the day unbeaten on 26 and 36 respectively with Burton’s four through mid-on giving his side the win.