Debutant Joe Hawkins claimed his maiden professional wicket, as lower order fight backs continued to be a theme in the match at Wantage Road.
George Bartlett equalled his season’s best of 60 not out, made in the opening round of the Rothesay County Championship, while Broad struck an unbeaten 64 as the pair batted through the evening session, having joined forces at 154 for five.
Northamptonshire captain Luke Procter anchored his side’s innings with a gritty 71 at the top of the order before becoming one of a trio of departures in quick succession prior to tea.
Earlier, Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked up the final two Derbyshire wickets to register figures of six for 118, his best in the County Championship.
Derbyshire resumed on 348 for eight and Ben Aitchison wasted no time in securing their third batting bonus point, clubbing Liam Guthrie’s first delivery of the morning to the cover fence.
Aitchison looked on course to reach a first-class half-century for only the second time in his career, but he departed five short of that landmark, chopping Chahal back onto leg stump.
The spinner soon wrapped up Derbyshire’s innings as Blair Tickner – having blazed a couple of boundaries off George Scrimshaw – took an ambitious swing and was caught at slip off a thick edge.
With ball in hand, Tickner then sent down a fiery opening spell, generating plenty of pace and bounce and earning his reward by removing Ricardo Vasconcelos with a delivery that swung in to hit the left-hander on the pads.
Procter and Lewis McManus – who was awarded his county cap prior to the start of play – saw their side through to lunch, not without the odd scare as debutant Joe Hawkins’ first ball found the edge of the skipper’s bat but fell just short of slip.
The visitors struck in the first over after the interval, when McManus misjudged the line from Zak Chappell and was caught behind, but James Sales started perkily as he dispatched Hawkins for two cover boundaries.
Meanwhile, Procter withstood a barrage of short-pitched bowling from Tickner, emerging unscathed after he ducked into a bouncer and continued to accumulate, guiding Aitchison to the rope at third man to bring up his half-century.
Northamptonshire’s third-wicket partnership yielded 74 before Luis Reece achieved the breakthrough, tempting Sales to drive outside off stump and Harry Came clasped the catch at cover.
Reece prised out Procter, foxing the batter with a slower ball that trapped him in front and Derbyshire also removed the in-form Saif Zaib on the stroke of tea, caught behind to provide Hawkins with his first senior wicket.
Bartlett made a scratchy start but began to open up in the wake of Procter’s exit, lifting Hawkins over the top for four and responding to another pounding by Tickner with a classy straight drive back over the bowler’s head.
He was soon overtaken by Broad, whose tendency towards the pull shot almost proved his downfall when he miscued Tickner to leg slip, only for the ball to drop just in front of the stretching Caleb Jewell.
However, it was Bartlett who won the race to 50, pummelling Reece for six and four in quick succession and Broad soon followed suit, capitalising on the left-armer’s full toss to find the boundary.
Derbyshire’s Luis Reece, who took two of the five wickets to fall, said: “They played really nicely this afternoon, but the boys have run in hard, put the ball in the right areas and tried to make things happen. We’re doing the right things and we’ve got to make sure we’re doing it for long enough in this game for those rewards to come.
“It’s a slowish wicket and I think that could be why things go quiet at times. It’s about taking those little windows when they arrive and cashing in.
“We were probably more on the unlucky side of things, on another day they could be seven or eight down now. I don’t think we’ve got the rewards we’ve deserved so far.
“It’s fantastic to see a young lad (debutant Joe Hawkins) coming in and taking to first-class cricket the way he has. He did exceptionally well with the bat to finish 30-odd not out and I thought he grew into his spell and bowled better and better.
“He’s going to have a high workload for the remainder of the game so it’s chucking him in at the deep end but so far he’s stood up brilliantly.”
One-Day Cricket returns this August!
The Metro Bank One-Day Cup returns for the school holidays, with four huge Falcons home games coming up.
From a local derby against Notts Outlaws, to the Tap Takeover for the visit of Surrey, plus the return to Repton School to face Worcestershire Rapids and our Community Fixture against Essex, there’s so much action to enjoy this August!
