Weather denies Northamptonshire as Derbyshire escape with draw
Northamptonshire came within 23 runs of a win that could have changed their season before the weather closed in against Derbyshire at Northampton.
The Rothesay County Championship Division Two match, played from 15 to 18 September at the County Ground, ended in a draw. Chasing 349 to win in their second innings — their second turn to bat — Northamptonshire reached 326 for six when play was stopped for good, according to BBC Sport.
The finish was frustratingly close. Umpires led the players off for bad light and rain at 16:20 BST on the final day. Ninety minutes later the game was declared a draw. Northamptonshire still needed 23 runs, with 22.2 overs left to get them and four wickets in hand.
Ricardo Vasconcelos drove the chase. The opener made 132, his sixth century of the season. He gave the innings its shape and its pace, and for long periods a home win looked the likely result.
He was well supported at the start. Luke Procter scored 51 in a 152-run opening stand with Vasconcelos that laid the platform. Calvin Harrison then added a brisk 50 to keep the required rate — the runs needed per over — under control.
Derbyshire kept hanging on. When the weather intervened, George Bartlett was 24 not out from 22 balls and pushing hard with the tail. The visitors could not break through, but the clouds did the job for them.
The first three innings set up that tense finish. Derbyshire made 372 and 286. Northamptonshire replied with 310 in their first innings, leaving them that fourth-innings target of 349.
The draw brought 13 points for Northamptonshire and 14 for Derbyshire. It leaves Northamptonshire four points behind second-placed Kent going into the final round of games.
For fans, this means the promotion race stays alive but narrow. In the County Championship, the top teams in Division Two go up to Division One for the next season. Northamptonshire and Kent were already locked in a fight for that final promotion place with two rounds left, when Northamptonshire sat on 175 points, according to the ECB.
Northamptonshire had won the toss at the cinch County Ground and will feel this was one that got away. Derbyshire will feel they escaped. Neither side blinked. The weather did it for them.
