Unlikely batting hero Sanderson believes division two promotion race is ‘wide open’

Leicestershire have enjoyed a superb start to the season and are setting the pace as they sit a very healthy 21 points clear at the top, but things are all very tight beneath the Foxes.

So much so that just 24 points separate rock-bottom Lancashire and Derbyshire in the second promotion place, with Northants currently fifth after they secured a first win of the season against the Red Rose on Sunday.

Ahead of this Friday's trip to play sixth-placed Glamorgan in Cardiff, Darren Lehmann's side are 18 points adrift of Derbyshire, and there is everything for everybody to play for with nine rounds of fixtures remaining.

The win over Lancashire is a real confidence boost for Northants, who had endured an inconsistent start to the season, drawing twice and losing twice, and Sanderson says the County are now very much looking up.

"Division two is very open," Sanderson told @BBCNorthampton. "The brand of cricket teams are playing now, they are coming on hard.

"Teams want to win, they don't just want to bat all day, they want to put pressure on bowlers and vice-versa.

"It is good, and we have been playing that brand of cricket and have been close to winning on a couple of occasions.

"We have been in every game we have played so far, so it is just nice to get over the line for once in this one."

Sanderson was the unlikely batting hero in the win over Lancashire, with his blistering 65 from 28 balls on Sunday setting up the 236 victory target that proved beyond the visitors as they were bowled out for 165 in the final innings to lose by 70 runs.

But the veteran seamer was also quick to highlight the importance of Saif Zaib's battling half-century, with the left-hander making 50 from 120 balls to hold thigs together ahead of Sanderson's pivotal counter-attack.

"Saif was class," said Sanderson. "We have been speaking about going long, and facing a lot of balls.

"Darren (Lehmann) has a target to get us facing 180 balls, somebody to do that for us, because it just keeps bringing the bowlers back.

"They are knackered, and I know from experience that your third and fourth spells are hard work, expecially when the sun is shining as it was on Sunday.

"Saif dug in for us, and their bowlers were pretty tired when I got out there, which helped us a lot."

With the match ending inside three days, the Northants players had the luxury of an extra day off ahead of the trip to south Wales, and that is a real bonus for Sanderson.

"We get an extra day now again which is nice, to get three days off is a game changer for the bowlers," said the 35-year-old.

"We will be raring to go, especially after the win over Lancashire and we will be on a high."