Joe Moores was given out obstructing the field after catching the ball to prevent it hitting his stumps
Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester (day four)
Northamptonshire 284 & 298-4 dec: Vasconcelos 100, Zaib 55*; Noman 2-109
Lancashire 137 & 129: Walkden 22*; Harrison 2-18, Procter 2-23
Northants (20pts) beat Lancashire (3pts) by 316 runs
Northamptonshire completed a quite outstanding all-round display 35 minutes after lunch as they defeated Lancashire by 316 runs in the County Championship match at Old Trafford.
Resuming on 24-2, Lancashire were bowled out for 129, debutant Ben Walkden top-scoring with 22 not out.
Ben Sanderson claimed 2-32 to give him match figures of 6-71, but this was a triumph for every member of the visitors' five-man attack.
Luke Procter's team are hoping to return to the First Division for the first time since they were relegated in 2023 and no one could doubt their credentials as they outclassed their opponents and completed a victory that leaves them four points behind second-placed Kent in a high-quality second tier.
Northamptonshire's bowlers made their first breakthrough when Liam Guthrie inswinger snaked inside nightwatchman Tom Bailey's loose drive.
Bailey's departure for 19 was followed next over by that of Josh Bohannon for 10, when the stand-in skipper lost his off stump to a fine ball from Procter that left him off the pitch.
Five overs later, Arav Shetty was leg-before to Sanderson for 11 to leave Lancashire languishing on 77-5 and there had been no addition when Rocky Flintoff hooked Procter straight to Saif Zaib at a precisely placed deep square leg.
The most bizarre dismissal of the season followed shortly afterwards when Joe Moores was out obstructing the field after he had played a ball from Procter into the ground and caught it as it bounced up in order to prevent it going anywhere near the stumps.
The Northamptonshire fielders appealed confidently, the umpires consulted, Moores was on his way for two, leaving Lancashire 82-7.
Walkden avoided a king pair on his first-class debut and got off the mark to his ninth delivery when he pushed Yuzi Chahal towards mid-off for a single.