County Championship: Lancashire take control on day two against Northants

Luke Wells has scored three fifties in 15 County Championship innings this season

Lancashire fought back strongly on a rain-curtailed day two of their County Championship game with Northamptonshire.

Resuming on 302-5, Division One's bottom side Northants lost their last five wickets for 40 in the morning session to be bowled out for 342.

Lancashire openers Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings put on 114 in reply before captain Jennings was lbw to Saif Zaib for 55.

Rain arrived shortly after at Old Trafford with Wells unbeaten on 61 and the score 121-1 with 37.5 overs lost to the weather.

There had been no such issues at the start of play which began in bright sunshine as Zaib (19) was caught behind off Tom Bailey in the day's third over.

The home side tightened the screw with the ball before left-arm spinners Jack Morley and Tom Hartley finished off the innings.

The pair shared the last four wickets as Northants subsided from 329-6 to 342 all out.

Wells and Jennings were watchful at the start of the Red Rose innings, although Jennings had a let-off on 17 when he was dropped at third slip by Justin Broad off the luckless Jack White.

They began to accelerate, particularly against the leg-spin of young Alex Russell and reached their second century partnership of the season.

Jennings survived a harder chance on 42 which Broad dropped, diving forward at short mid-on after Dom Leech had got one to jump off the pitch, before he brought up his 50 off 78 balls.

However, he was out trying to reverse sweep Zaib's third ball to give Northants a much-needed breakthrough.

But Wells remains, bringing up his third 50 of a season in which he has only averaged 25, and he and Lancashire will hope that he can kick on in day three.