Promotion beckons for Northants after completing Durham win

The hosts needed just eight overs on the fourth morning to complete victory meaning only four points separate them from Division One next season

Northampton: (fourth day of four): Northamptonshire 217 & 315, Durham 131 & 232 - Northamptonshire won by 169 runs

Scorecard

Northamptonshire took just eight overs on the final morning to take a giant stride towards Division One of the Specsavers County Championship by wrapping up a mighty victory over Durham by 169 runs under cloudless skies.

Victory, Northants fifth of the season, moves them to second in the Division Two table with a game remaining. With Sussex losing at Derbyshire, Northants will be promoted if Leicestershire can deny Glamorgan victory in Cardiff. 

Even if Glamorgan win, Northants will only need four points from their final match at Bristol to mathematically certain of a return to Division One for the first time since 2014. Defeat here for Durham ends their promotion hopes.

The home side looked to be wrapping up victory inside three days when Durham lost their seventh second-innings wicket in the 46th over but captain Ned Eckersley played another innings of admirable obduracy. This time facing 134 balls for a deserved unbeaten 67.

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But he couldn’t shield the tail from the second new ball. Matt Salisbury blocked back 55 balls on the third evening but lasted only eight more deliveries into the fourth morning. Brett Hutton swung a ball away that started on middle and leg beat Salisbury’s outside edge and had him plumb lbw on the back foot. It completed a second five-wicket haul of the season for Hutton and he finished with 5 for 59.

Hutton and Ben Sanderson have proved a lethal new-ball combination since Hutton’s return to fitness and it was Sanderson who took the final wicket as Chris Rushworth poked a length ball to Ben Curran at point to record a 19-ball duck.

The margin of victory reflected Northants dominance of the game from the moment captain Adam Rossington launched a brutal assault on the first afternoon when his side were struggling at 150 for 8. He now boasts an impressive record of five wins and three draws from eight matches since taking over from Alex Wakely in May. A permanent appointment as captain surely awaits.

Durham were left to reflect on a tame end to their promotion challenge after arriving in Northampton with a wet sail after going unbeaten in eight matches and winning five of those games. But they were outplayed and captain Eckersley was the only batsman to show sufficient resistance against Northants probing attack.

Courtesy of the ECB reporters network