Josh Bohannon came to Lancashire’s rescue with a century as their County Championship Division Two match with Northamptonshire ended in a draw.
On-loan Notts leg-spinner Calvin Harrison’s career-best 7-119 from a marathon 57 overs (for career-best match figures) had looked likely to propel Northants to a first win in 26 years at Old Trafford.
But Bohannon hit 155, allied to a half-century from Marcus Harris, led some stern resistance from the hosts.
After starting the morning on 126-2, they had reached 351-9 when the players shook hands at 17:40 BST.
Northants struck early when Harrison disposed of nightwatchman Anderson Phillip for 10, bowled playing down the wrong line – but that proved to be the visitors’ only success of the morning as Bohannon and Harris knocked a further 72 runs off the overnight deficit of 144 by the lunch break.
Harris settled in quickly after edging his first boundary to third man off Raphy Weatherall, before posting his half-century from 94 balls.
Northamptonshire grabbed the new ball as soon as it became available after 23 overs as skipper Luke Procter rang the changes against his old club, using eight bowlers in all.
Harris had just posted his third fifty-plus score in four innings during a partnership of 94 when he was well caught at short leg by James Sales off Harrison with Lancashire 243-4 and still 25 runs in arrears.
Bohannon drove gloriously through the covers for four to take the home side into the lead half-way off Harrison, who then had Matty Hurst caught at slip.
The wicket Northamptonshire really wanted arrived 10 minutes before tea with Bohannon’s unlucky dismissal, caught by wicketkeeper Lewis McManus from a rebound off the back of Sales at short leg from a Saif Zaib delivery.
Harrison then celebrated a second first-class five-for when George Balderson popped up a bat-pad catch to Sales at short leg eight overs into the evening.
Luke Wells and Tom Bailey took the game into the final hour but, although Harrison removed Wells for 39 and then Tom Hartley in quick succession, it was all in vain.
Report supplied by ECB, supported by Rothesay.
