Northants take upper hand

Solid batting from Northamptonshire’s top-order gave their side the ascendancy on a rain-shortened opening day of their LV County Championship match with Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

After winning the toss, the visitors were strongly-placed at 292 for five when heavy rain arrived to wipe out the day’s last 24 overs.

Northamptonshire’s only regret against an innocuous-looking bowling attack was that, while four of their top five reached 48, none went on to play a really big innings. All perished carelessly before they reached 75.

Warwickshire welcomed back opening bowlers Chris Martin and Chris Woakes from injury and England Under-19 duty respectively but they made no impression after the visitors chose to bat.

Niall O’Brien and Stephen Peters added 96 in 29 overs and looked largely untroubled before both surprisingly perished in the last 10 minutes before lunch.

Rob White raced to 73 off just 78 balls against Warwickshire

Ian Salisbury was introduced as the sixth bowler and his eighth ball was lifted straight to deep midwicket by O’Brien, who departed for 48 from 96 balls with five fours.

If O’Brien was kicking himself back to the pavilion, Peters was no less so moments later. To the penultimate ball before lunch, he shuffled out of his ground, Salisbury turned one past him and Tony Frost celebrated his 100th first-class match with his 17th stumping.

When, in the sixth over after lunch, Salisbury trapped David Sales lbw with a googly, the spinner had 3-9 in 5.1 overs and the visitors were wobbling on 129 for three, but Rob White and Riki Wessels stopped the rot.

Voracious on anything loose, White galloped to 50 from 51 balls and promptly celebrated with 10 from two balls off Salisbury.

The fourth-wicket pair added 83 in 19 overs but just as Northamptonshire were starting to take a firm grip on the game, for the second time in the day, they lost two quick wickets in careless fashion.

White, who made 73 from 78 balls with nine fours and three sixes, was a victim of over-confidence and top-edged a sweep at Salisbury to short fine leg just before tea.

Just after the interval, Neil Carter dropped short and Wessels, who made 61 in 96 balls, with 10 fours and a six, sensed his second six was nigh but instead only top-edged his pull to Navdeep Poonia on the deep midwicket boundary.

Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje then added 32 before the deluge arrived.