Dane Paterson took five wickets against Northamptonshire to propel Nottinghamshire to victory by one innings and 25 runs on day three of their County Championship game at Wantage Road.
South Africa international Paterson’s first four scalps came in a first flurry of eight overs, all thanks to catches behind the wicket that left the Steelbacks reeling at 11-4. Although Saif Zaib (26) put up some resistance, they never recovered and were all knocked out for 72.
This follows Northamptonshire’s first innings collapse on day two when they lost seven wickets for 17 runs and a similar disheartening batting display in their last home game against Hampshire which also ended in a loss in the round.
Earlier Joe Clarke (76) scored his second half-century of the season to give Nottinghamshire a healthy 97-point lead which could have been higher without career-best numbers of 4-24 for James Sales and four wickets for Tom Taylor.
But any hopes their efforts would open the game for Northamptonshire were quickly dashed when Paterson had the ball in hand.
Nottinghamshire regained a 157-for-four point deficit in Test conditions, with home bowlers frequently batting and urging batters to play outside the stump.
They made early inroads, taking two wickets in five balls. Taylor notched his third of the innings when Lyndon James (26) drove loose on the first slide where Ricardo Vasconcelos took a good hold. Steven Mullaney went lbw fast without scoring.
At this stage, Nottinghamshire were 184-6, just 26 ahead and Northamptonshire were hoping to make quick work of the lower order. But Liam Patterson-White stayed with Clarke in a stand worth 58 in 17 overs to steady the ship.
Clarke passed 50 through a wide delivery down the side of the leg, but Nottinghamshire’s last four wickets fell back quickly, with James (15) playing an extravagant drive towards Sales giving Vasconcelos a fourth slip catch.
Clarke had played largely fluently, gently timing the ball to the boundary, stroking 10 fours in four hours into the crease. But he had also played and missed on several occasions and his innings ended in ignominious fashion, when he unnecessarily flashed a wide ball from Sales.
Sales picked up his fourth wicket when he got one to come back and knock down Brett Hutton’s stumps while Paterson was the last man out, knocked down by Taylor.
Northamptonshire’s batting jitters returned immediately with both openers back in the locker room inside two overs thanks to Paterson, who picked up Vasconcelos driving loosely low at the first slip and Emilio Gay who played the same.
As Hutton kept up the pressure at the other end, the procession continued as Whiteman pushed one just outside the Paterson stump with Clarke taking a good somersault hold behind as Rob Keogh dropped the ball following when he was squared, the ball flying at third sheet.
Zaib provided stubborn resistance, starting to rebuild the Northamptonshire innings in a 35 position with Sales, but he occasionally took advantage of his luck, eventually falling when he drove James through the air at Slater.
Sales left two points later when he edged Mullaney while Harry Gouldstone flashed on a wide ball from Hutton sending him straight to the point.
Gareth Berg gave Paterson his fifth wicket when he flashed down a straight to Ben Duckett in the slides who could only parry him, Hutton catching him on the rebound.
Jordan Buckingham’s exhaustion compounded Northamptonshire’s woes and it was left to Hutton to take the last wicket, having Taylor caught behind another loose shot.
Report provided by the ECB Reporters Network.
