DAV WHATMORE hailed another face-saving contribution from Neil Fairbrother after the veteran rescued Lancashire at Northants.

"His experience and confidence is remarkable," said Whatmore. "He knows exactly what to do in tight situations and he brought us through again."

Fairbrother hit 58 from 59 balls, as well as batting with a thigh strain, to clinch a tense seven wicket Axa League win with seven balls to spare of the 22-over slog yesterday.

But it needn't have required 34-year-old Fairbrother's heroics after Peter Martin had given the game an amazing start with two wickets in the first two balls.

It left Northants 0-2 and they were soon 1-3 and 12-4 as Ian Austin got in on the wickets bonanza at Wantage Road. But they couldn't keep up those kind of feats and Northants escaped humiliation thanks to a nicely-judged 51 not out from 39 balls by Tim Walton.

It helped the home side to 125-7 off 22 overs - and Lancashire suddenly realised what a decent target it was when Paddy McKeown was out in the first over. The Liverpool-born batsman, called up to replace the sick John Crawley, edged his second ball behind and when Andrew Flintoff went for 10, Lancashire were in a spot of bother.

But Fairbrother and Graham Lloyd put on 55 for the third wicket, and when Lloyd was out - he was later to return as Fairbrother's runner - Mike Watkinson expertly stepped up the pace.

He cracked spinner Jeremy Snape for a huge six over mid-wicket, and planted West Indian Franklyn Rose back over his head for another six which won the game.

Whatmore added: "We needed to win and take the maximum points after losing at Essex. It means we stay in touch at the top, although I thought the weather might ruin it for us."

The victory also made up for some of the disappointment of settling for a draw in the Championship encounter on Saturday. Crawley declared with Lancashire on 438-8 at lunch, leaving Northants a target of 337 in a minimum of 66 overs - and it was too much for them, as they packed it in at 274-6.

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