Northants beat Leicestershire despite Currie ton

Scott Currie's previous highest first-class score was 72

Vitality County Championship Division Two, Northampton (day three)

Leicestershire 203 & 316: Currie 120, Wood 57*; Chahal 5-134

Northamptonshire 383 & 137-1: Procter 68*, Bartlett 54*

Northants (22 pts) beat Leicestershire (3 pts) by nine wickets

Match scorecard

Scott Currie's maiden first-class century proved in vain as Northamptonshire completed back-to-back Championship victories for the first time in five years.

Currie kept his calm as Leicestershire lost three early wickets on the third morning at Wantage Road, slumping to 92-7 - still 88 runs behind.

But century partnerships with Tom Scriven (48) and Sam Wood (57) before Currie fell for 120 helped Leicestershire set their hosts 137 to win.

George Bartlett (54) and captain Luke Procter (68) both scored half-centuries in an unbroken stand of 120 to seal victory by nine wickets.

Leicestershire had resumed on 69-4 and soon lost skipper Lewis Hill and Ben Cox before James Sales took a sharp catch at short leg off Yuzvendra Chahal to dismiss Liam Trevaskis.

Scriven provided the impetus the innings needed as Leicestershire pressed the accelerator rather than wait for wickets to fall.

Currie too started to play more aggressively. He had made just 16 off 72 balls when the seventh wicket fell, but took the attack to Chahal, swinging dismissively through mid-wicket and dispatching him over long-off.

Scriven muscled Chahal over long-on for a huge six as Leicestershire went into lunch on 172-7, trailing by just eight runs, an unlikely prospect earlier in the day.

Justin Broad made the breakthrough following the interval, knocking Scriven's middle stump out of the ground.

But Currie smashed Broad through deep point as he passed his previous highest best score of 72 and moved on to his century off 159 balls.

Wood picked up where Scriven had left off, crunching Chahal down the ground for three sixes and cutting and driving fluently along the turf.

Chahal finally ended Currie's long stay, picking up his fifth wicket in the process with one that turned and took the edge.

Louis Kimber came out at number 11 after injuring his hand in the field and made four before Saif Zaib bowled him to wrap up the innings.

Gus Miller (11) had his stumps rearranged by Wood with the hosts 17-1, but Bartlett and Procter batted with relative ease to secure victory.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.