Watch highlights of day two
Centuries by Scott Borthwick and Paul Collingwood helped Durham to 362 for eight on the second day of their LV= County Championship Division One encounter at the Emirates Durham ICG after an opening-day washout.
Bad light ended play 10 overs prematurely, but 181 runs were added in the afternoon session as relegated Northants threatened to fall apart.
After reducing Durham to 110 for four they allowed Borthwick and Collingwood, with 136 and 101 respectively, to put on 67 in the next 10 overs and they went on to add 187 in 41.
Both batsmen are in prime form with Borthwick scoring 176 in last week's win over Middlesex at Lord's, where Collingwood made two half-centuries to follow his hundred at home to Nottinghamshire the previous week.
The bowlers gave them some easy pickings in the afternoon, when there were also several examples of shoddy fielding.
100 for Scott Borthwick! 157 balls, 14x4s. We are 230-4 https://t.co/W05I9BGZ8o
— Durham Cricket Club (@DurhamCricket) September 16, 2014
With acting captain James Middlebrook giving himself only seven overs, Northants’ over-rate read minus three. But the seamers kept running in enthusiastically and tightened up as the cloud cover increased and the ball began to swing.
Keaton Jennings pushed forward and edged Neil Wagner to first slip. It was Jennings' third successive duck and it would have also been his third consecutive golden had he not been dropped first ball at the home of cricket.
Wagner also had Ben Stokes caught by Andrew Hall at slip for 13 but the New Zealand Test left-arm paceman conceded runs at six an over until he was brought back for the 79th.
The new ball was due, but he swung the old one in to have Collingwood lbw, then had Chris Rushworth caught behind to finish with 4-95.
Borthwick reached 1,000 championship runs on 19 as he and Mark Stoneman put on 40 for the second wicket before the opener fell lbw to Muhammad Azhar Ullah.
Scott Borthwick ( @Borthwick16 ) speaks to @Martycricket and @sturayner after the close of day two. pic.twitter.com/chhH9wHfcS
— Durham Cricket Club (@DurhamCricket) September 16, 2014
Michael Richardson took 13 deliveries to get off the mark and made only 11 before he was beaten by a ball from Hall which swung past the outside edge to hit off stump.
Once Borthwick and Collingwood had made their flying start, the only subsequent chance they gave Northamptonshire came when Borthwick was dropped on 82. It was a regulation shin-high chance to wicketkeeper Ben Duckett off one of Maurice Chambers' better deliveries.
Borthwick then enjoyed a purple patch in racing to 78, culminating in two fours off successive balls off Wagner.
The left-hander slowed up either side of being dropped, but on 97 he eased Azhar Ullah through backward point.
He was always going to run three, but was handed four when Chambers, who had run round from third man, dived over the ball.