Yuzvendra Chahal’s artistry keeps Northamptonshire in promotion hunt

Coming fresh off a nine-wicket match haul against Durham, Chahal continued his sublime form against Worcestershire with a four-for in the second innings, keeping Northants’ promotion hopes alive. The leg-spinner also picked up a wicket in the first innings to finish with five in the game.

Worcestershire began their second innings with an 89-run deficit, and were soon put to test by Harry Conway, who sent the top three of Daniel Lategun, Jake Libby and Rehaan Edavalath back with just 34 on the board. Adam Hose and skipper Brett D’Oliveira together added 54 for the fourth wicket but Luke Procter sent the former back for 18. Ben Sanderson then dismissed Henry Cullen, reducing Worcestershire to 112-5, with a lead of a just 23.

Chahal was the fifth bowler to be introduced into the attack, and he trapped Matthew Waite with a near-yorker before taking down a well-set D’Oliveira for 64. Procter got rid of Ben Allison, reducing Worcestershire to 177-8. The leg-spinner then removed Usama Mir, who was caught at silly mid-off trying to slog a leg-stump delivery, before trapping Adam Finch leg before in the same over to bowl Worcs out and set Northants 94 runs to win.

The visitors needed a little over 25 overs to chase down the total at the County Ground in Worcester, getting there with six wickets to spare. George Bartlett (19*) and James Sales (2*) took them over the line after Usama Mir claimed three wickets.

Yuzi doing the business in the second innings 💥 pic.twitter.com/Xkp1aeUwUl

— Northamptonshire CCC (@NorthantsCCC) September 10, 2026

Earlier in the clash, Worcestershire scored 200 in the first innings on the back of fifties from Jake Libby (55) and Henry Cullen (64), with Procter claiming his fifth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Northamptonshire responded with 289 after a composed 110 from Saif Zaib.

As far as the points table is concerned, Northamptonshire stand second in Division Two with 175 points after the win, just two ahead of third-placed Kent, who are in the middle of their fixture against Derbyshire. Worcestershire stand fifth with 133 points, with two games left to play in the season.

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.