Veterans Devon Malcolm and Phil DeFreitas turned back the clock as they took seven wickets between them to wreck the Northants innings on the first day of the CricInfo Championship clash at Grace Road.

But Leicestershire's batsmen then found life just as difficult against the swinging ball and were bowled out for 185 for a lead of just 26 runs.

It meant that 20 wickets had fallen on the day for 344 runs but any visit from a pitch inspector would really be a wasted journey. There was very little wrong with the pitch. It was a case of the batsmen on both sides being unable to cope with the conditions which helped the seamers.

Yet Northants had no hesitation in batting after winning the toss. They clearly fancied their chances of a good score on a straw-coloured pitch of easy pace.

But once the ball began to swing, wickets fell at regular intervals. DeFreitas, in his first Championship game of the season after a shoulder injury, claimed three for 43 while 38-year-old Malcolm took four for 64 against his former county.

He wrapped things up with an impressive spell after lunch, picking up the last three wickets at a cost of 22 runs and Northants were all out for 159 in 48.4 overs.

Leicestershire made a poor start, losing opener Iain Sutcliffe with the total at three before a stand of 89 between Trevor Ward and Ben Smith looked to have them in the driving seat.

Ward reached his 50 off 81 balls with seven fours and a six and was then brilliantly caught by Russell Warren off Lesroy Weekes, making his Championship debut for the visitors.

That triggered a collapse which saw nine wickets fall for 93 runs in 26 overs with Weekes, Darren Cousins and Kevin Innes taking three apiece. So it was just about honours even at the end of the day between the two bottom sides in the First Division.

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