Rory Kleinveldt ripped through the Middlesex top order to spark a follow-on.
The former South African Test seamer is still making a significant contribution to Northamptonshire’s bowling attack at the age of 35.
Kleinveldt all but routed Middlesex’s top order at Northampton on Monday as the hosts took a firm grip on their key County Championship Division Two fixture.
Brought into the attack only in the 15th over, the stalwart right-armer immediately capitalised on a seaming pitch, under cloudy skies.
He started by having ex-England Test opener Sam Robson caught by wicketkeeper Ricardo Vasconcelos after some steep bounce earned the right-hander’s edge. The left-handed Dawid Malan (recently dumped from the England side after struggling to put runs together in the Test arena) was removed leg before for a first-ball duck thanks to some sharp inswing.
Another South African-born batsman, Stevie Eskinazi, departed to Kleinveldt the following over. This time, slip fielder Ben Duckett holding on to the thick edge.
Northants took 11 wickets today… and you can watch every single one of them here!#MadeOfSteel pic.twitter.com/9s2k7Ndxhk
— NCCC (@NorthantsCCC) August 20, 2018
Kleinveldt’s telling haul of three for 20 in 11 overs sparked a Middlesex collapse that saw them bowled out for a sorry 187 – and left with a hefty first-innings deficit.
His performance with the ball effectively mirrored that of fellow South African Vasconcelos’ star showing with the bat, with Vasconcelos stroking a maiden century for Northants on Sunday as they put together a commanding 346 all out.
STATS PACK
Prior to the match against Middlesex, Kleinveldt had taken 443 first-class wickets at an average of 27.98 (econ 3.03), with 20 five-wicket hauls. He has twice taken 10 wickets in a match, with his best bowling figures in an innings being 9-65 against Nottinghamshire at Northampton in 2017, finishing with 13 wickets in the match. His match figures were: 1st innings 24.2-6-65-9 (econ 2.67), 2nd innings 15-3-33-4 (econ 2.20). Kleinveldt also scored 43 off 63 balls in the first innings and 48 off 41 balls in the second innings.
Photo: Harry Hubbard/Getty Images
