Leicestershire CCC 234 all out at tea on day three at Northants

Leicestershire were 234 all out on day three of their County Championship game against Northamptonshire. This left County 121 runs behind the Division Two leaders at tea. Only a fine 64 from Shiv Thakor, on a pitch favouring seam bowlers, saved the follow-on after the hosts' 355 all out yesterday. Leicestershire's batsmen endured a forgettable morning session at Northampton as they slumped from the relevant comfort of 89-1 to 134-5 at lunch, still requiring 76 runs to avoid the prospect of following on. On a morning hit by a couple of rain breaks the County top order could find no answer to the seam bowling of Trent Copeland, who went into the break with figures of 4-43. The only plus for Leicestershire was opener Greg Smith's half-century, though he would not be happy with the manner of his dismissal as he was caught at point cutting a short, wide delivery from Copeland. Ned Eckersley fell lbw to the Australian for 25 and Josh Cobb lasted just two balls before he was bowled by David Willey. County then suffered a major blow on the brink of lunch when skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was looking in good touch, was trapped lbw by Copeland for 19.