County Championship: Rob Keogh century earns Northants lead over Gloucestershire

Rob KeoghGetty Images

Rob Keogh's century against Gloucestershire was his 12th in first-class cricket

LV= County Championship Division One, The County Ground, Northampton (day two):

Gloucestershire 223 & 5-1: Sanderson 1-2

Northamptonshire 288: Keogh 113, Berg 66; Higgins 4-68

Northants (5 pts) lead Gloucestershire (4pts) by 60 runs

Scorecard

Rob Keogh led the Northamptonshire fightback with a century to earn his side a lead over Gloucestershire on day two at Wantage Road.

The home side were deep in trouble at 129-7 but Keogh and Gareth Berg (66) shared 137 for the eighth wicket.

Keogh brought up his ton with an all-run four and was finally out for 113 as his side posted 288.

Gloucestershire, who earlier saw James Bracey hit 117 in their first-innings 223, reach the close on 5-1, 60 behind.

Ben Charlesworth was the man out to the new ball, trapped leg before by Ben Sanderson without scoring, in the three overs possible before bad light ended play early.

Charlesworth's departure meant Bracey finished the day back at the crease after resuming unbeaten on 77 at the start of play.

The wicketkeeper, who made his Test debut for England last summer, found a capable ally in Pakistan international Naseem Shah as they added 59 on the second morning after Gloucestershire began the day on 164-8.

Bracey was then at the heart of the action with the gloves, taking five catches as Northants struggled, the first off a thin edge from Ricardo Vasconcelos in the third over of the hosts' reply.

That was the first of a trio of early wickets for Ryan Higgins (4-68), who then collected two in three balls as Ben Curran and Saif Zaib fell to slip catches to leave the home side wobbling at 24-3.

Emilio Gay edged behind to Bracey on the stroke of lunch and he took three more catches in the afternoon, two of them low efforts to dismiss Lewis McManus (15) and Tom Taylor (0), to leave Northants in deep trouble.

It would have been worse had Higgins not been called for a no-ball when Berg mistimed a pull to mid-wicket.

He took advantage of that let-off to help Keogh lead the recovery and shepherd their side beyond Gloucestershire's total.

Berg finally fell to a misjudged sweep off Zafar Gohar, while Keogh advanced to 113 before Ben Charlesworth had him caught in the slips.

Northants' Rob Keogh told BBC Radio Northampton:

"It's very satisfying given the situation going in at 22-3 against one of the best bowlers in the country in Ryan Higgins, it's always a tough challenge.

"We were under the pump at 129-7. Gloucestershire's tails were up and Bergy came in and played unbelievably.

"He had a little bit of fortune with the wicket off the no-ball and he made them pay. It took a lot of pressure off me an my job was just to bat.

"I'm a bit frustrated with how I got out. I would have liked to have gone on, seen it through tonight and have a bit of fun in the morning.

"But taking that wicket tonight puts us in pole position going into day three."

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