County Championship: Josh Bohannon closes on 92 to keep Lancs in victory hunt at Northampton

Josh Bohannon, Lancashire's leading run scorer in 2021, passed 50 for only the third time this season

Josh Bohannon's unbeaten 92 boosted Lancashire's chances of forcing victory in a see-saw contest against Northamptonshire that looks set for an exciting finale.

After bowling out Northants for 174, helped by New Zealander Will Williams' first five-wicket return in County Championship cricket and Tom Bailey's 4-65, Lancs set themselves an awkward target of 278 to win at Wantage Road.

Lancs lost both openers to controversial lbw decisions, as Keaton Jennings and Luke Wells were both given out despite apparent inside edges.

But Bohannon hit his biggest score since his career-best 231 against Gloucestershire in April, sharing a stand of 117 with Steven Croft (47) to help Lancs close on 192-5.

Earlier, Ryan Rickelton's unbeaten 58 had rescued Northants from 78-7 in their second innings, sharing a stand of 95 for the eighth wicket with Lancashire old boy Simon Kerrigan (43).

With the ball swinging in overcast conditions, Bailey struck with the fifth ball to nip back and dismiss Will Young lbw, before another Lancs old boy Luke Procter edged to first slip.

Emilio Gay weathered the storm, but his two-hour vigil for 17 was ended by Luke Wood's lethal inswinging yorker.

Bailey then made deeper inroads when he castled Lewis McManus before foxing Tom Taylor with a slower ball that sent middle stump flying.

However, fortunes were transformed after the interval when once-capped England spinner Kerrigan went for his shots and that drew Rickelton - dropped on 8 by substitute wicketkeeper George Lavelle off Williams - out of his shell.

While Rickelton reverse sweeped to combat Washington Sundar, Kerrigan fought a personal duel against Wood's short-pitched bowling, taking a sharp blow on the hand but recovering to carve him over the slips for one of his six boundaries.

Lavelle put down another chance off Williams, with Kerrigan the man to escape this time, but it proved less costly for Lancashire as the next ball was snicked to first slip, where Rob Jones knocked it up for Wells to grab.

Ben Sanderson lasted just two deliveries before Williams knocked back Jack White's off stump to end the Northamptonshire innings.

After disappointing dismissals for Jennings and Wells (26), Bohannon began to find his rhythm, particularly against the spinners, and swept Rob Keogh for three boundaries in an over.

But Sanderson kept his side in contention by getting Croft and skipper Dane Vilas late in the day before nightwatchman Matt Parkinson perished off Keogh at midwicket.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.