Mark Chilton and Glen Chapple joined forces to save Lancashire from the threat of following-on in what is developing into a fascinating Division One fixture against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.

Opener Chilton battled his way to an unbeaten 102 – his only previous Championship century was also off the Northants attack, at Old Trafford in 1999 – and his patient knock guided the visitors to 251-8 at the close.

They still trail the hosts by 147, but the situation would have been very much worse but for the efforts of Chilton and Chapple, who came together at 191-7 and posted 59 crucial runs in 17 overs together.

Chapple departed for 31 just before the close, becoming Tony Penberthy's 200th first-class wicket, but Chilton was undefeated after a five-and-a-quarter hour stay featuring ten fours.

Chapple had made his mark with the ball earlier in the day, snapping up Northants' last four wickets as they subsided from 365-6 to 398 all out and missed out on a fifth batting point.

But apart from Chilton, none of the Lancashire batsmen stayed for long with off-spinner Jason Brown dismissing Andrew Flintoff (17) and Neil Fairbrother (23) in a telling post-lunch spell.

John Blain forced Tim Roberts to play on for three, making it a disappointing Championship debut for the Northants-born batsman, and when Warren Hegg and Chris Schofield followed after tea it needed something special from Chilton and Chapple to keep Lancashire in the game.

Fortunately for John Crawley's men, they proved equal to the task.

© CricInfo Ltd.