India’s spinner Yuzvendra Chahal claimed five wickets to his name on Day 2 in the ongoing County Championship match between Northamptonshire and Derbyshire to put his team in the front seat in the four-day contest, here.

Northamptonshire won the toss and chose to bat in the contest on Monday. The side’s second Indian, Prithvi Shaw opened the batting alongside Gus Miller but was not able to support his teammate for too long as he was caught on just his second delivery after smashing the first one for four runs putting hide in a spot of bother. The home side were struggling at 89/6 until Saif Zaib’s 90 running inning alongside Justin Broad’s 45 propelled their first innings score to 219.

Chahal’s wickets helped his side regain control in the game after setting a par score in the first innings. The leg spinner took the all important wicket of Italian batter Wayne Madsen, Who was building his innings at 42 runs. Chahal’s wicket taking ability helped Northamptonshire to bowl out Derbyshire for 165 despite the latter being at 150 for the loss of four wickets at one stage.

Northamptonshire made no mistake with the lifeline they got, despite yet another erratic start by Prithvi Shaw which saw him being dismissed for two runs, in the third innings as they totaled a score of 178 for five at the end of Day 2. The hosts are leading by 232 runs thanks to contributions by Gus Miller (42 runs), James Sales’ (40 runs) and Rob Keogh who stands tall at 46*.

Northamptonshire will be hoping to add to this score on Day 3 and build a difficult target for their opponents.

Squads:

Derbyshire Squad: Harry Came, Luis Reece, Brooke Guest(w), David Lloyd(c), Aneurin Donald, Wayne Madsen, Ross Whiteley, Daryn Dupavillon, Zak Chappell, Blair Tickner, Matthew Lamb, Patrick Brown, Alex Thomson, Anuj Dal, Samuel Conners, Jack Morley, Mitchell Wagstaff, Nick Potts

Northamptonshire Squad: Ricardo Vasconcelos, Luke Procter(c), Ben Sanderson, Rob Keogh, Lewis McManus(w), Saif Zaib, George Bartlett, Liam Patterson-White, George Scrimshaw, Chris Tremain, Emilio Gay, Dominic Leech, Jack White, James Sales, Justin Broad, Alex Russell, Gus Miller, Raphael Weatherall