Rory Kleinveldt went out to enjoy himself and hammered a quick 56 off 34 balls to help boost Northamptonshire’s second innings to 429 against Leicestershire in the English County Championship on Tuesday.

There was a certain amount of bravado as Northants, 54 behind on the first innings were leading by just 118 with three wickets in hand when Kleinveldt joined David Willey, son of long-time England Test spinner Peter, at the crease. They then put on 97 for the eighth wicket at more than eight an over. Kleinveldt picked up nine fours and two sixes in a whirlwind innings, while Willey went on to 88.

That gave Northants a lead of 376, and at the close of day three, Leicestershire were 44-1, with Kleinveldt having bowled six overs for 26.

Another Saffa who came in under the radar was Greg Smith, a former SA Under-19 all-rounder who added an unbeaten 50 to Essex’s mammoth 610-8 declared against Surrey.

The foundation had been laid when Smith came to the crease, at 469-6, but he helped put on 141 for the last two wickets.

The 32-year-old Smith has had an interesting journey from the SA Under 19 World Cup squad of 2001 to the wilds of Essex, playing for the Mountaineers in Zimbabwe, Griqualand West and Abhani Limited since leaving South Africa in 2004.

If ever there was a time for Kevin Pietersen to enhance his England credentials, this is it: Surrey are now 95-2, still 175 behind. Pietersen, dismissed for 32 in the first innings, is on eight off 26 balls, having watched Kumar Sangakkara depart on 43.

Elsewhere on the circuit, Keaton Jennings‘ 38 helped Durham to 115-2 in pursuit of a target of 262 to beat  Sussex at Chester-le-Street.

Alviro Petersen and Ashwell Prince had a long day in the field after Kent were forced to follow on after mustering 252 in reply to Lancashire’s 444 (to which Prince contributed 106). Zimbabwe Test seamer Kyle Jarvis took 4-50 off 18 and added another as Kent laboured to 148-3, still 44 runs behind.

Jarvis’s former Test captain Brendon Taylor also had a good day, scoring 103 in Nottinghamshire’s second innings of 296-4. They lead Hampshire by (276; Philander 2-58) by 391 and will need a judicious declaration if they are to get anything out of this. Riki Wessels is at the crease on nine.