Lehmann frustrated by the weather, but pleased with Northants’ performance
Head coach Darren Lehmann declared himself pleased with the performance of his Northants side despite the frustration of being denied the chance of pushing for victory by persistent rain on Easter Monday.
Derbyshire were due to resume their second innings on 202 for three, a lead of just nine runs, but the rain arrived before the start of play and failed to relent, with the umpires calling the game off just after lunch.
It meant Northants recorded their second draw in succession following on from their opening round defeat at the hands of Kent and last week's stalemate at Lancashire.
The County have been the dominant side in the two drawn games, and Lehmann is liking what he is seeing from his players.
In the draw with Derbyshire there were centuries for both Luke Procter and Saif Zaib as the County powered their way to 500 for eight declared in their first innings, and with the ball there were decent wicket hauls for Justin Broad, Procter and Liam Guthrie.
But in the end they were beaten by the Derbyshire rain.
“It hasn’t gone our way with the weather," said Lehmann. "Derbyshire played well yesterday, and I thought it was an excellent game.
“The pleasing thing is we are playing a really good team-based game.
"I was pleased with the batters on Sunday that they scored so quickly to take the game on and give us more overs.
“From a bowling point of view, I thought we were probably a little bit down in the first innings when Derbyshire got 300 and it was a 220 wicket I reckon.
"So we were just a little bit short there, but we caught everything and gave ourselves a chance to win the game which is all we can do and ask for.”
Northants claimed 16 points from the draw, with Derbyshire picking up 12, and they now have a break until they return to action on Friday, May 2 when they travel to Grace Road to play Leicestershire.