Yorkshire completed a rousing ten-wicket victory over Northamptonshire at Headingley yesterday to continue a great start to the season which has seen them win their last six matches in all competitions.

With storm clouds gathering, openers Matthew Wood and Phil Jaques thrashed 72 in half-an-hour after lunch to race them to their 129 target and strengthen their championship challenge.

It was Yorkshire's third consecutive home victory against Northants and it left them in great heart for tomorrow's championship game with Leicester-shire at Grace Road when they will field an unchanged team.

Northants effectively had eight down at the start of the final day because wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy had broken a finger on Saturday and could not bat in the second innings, but casual bowling by Yorkshire prolonged the visitors' innings far longer than should have been the case.

Johann Louw and Steffan Jones took their eighth-wicket stand to 37 before Louw fell lbw to Deon Kruis but Jones then added a frustrating 41 with last man Jason Brown as Yorkshire bowled too short and wide.

The pair took the lead into three figures and Jones, wasting few scoring opportunities, reached his half-century off 59 balls with seven fours but one run later he was out to a soft dismissal, patting back a catch to Ian Harvey off a slow full toss.

Kruis and Tim Bresnan each took three wickets. Kruis has now captured 14 wickets at a meagre 12.07 runs apiece in his first two championship matches at Headingley since joining Yorkshire at the start of the season.

Wood and Jaques went for the runs from the word go and both enjoyed escapes before the morning session was finished, Wood being dropped at first slip by Martin Love on seven and Jaques seeing Jones put down a return chance on 23. Everything else came off the middle of the bat, however, and the 50 arrived in only the tenth over, Yorkshire going in to lunch on 57 without loss.

The pair were even more frenetic after the interval as every run was applauded from the players' balcony and some of the biggest cheers were reserved for Wood who struck two soaring sixes off Louw and one off Ben Phillips.

The winning boundary came from Jaques, who ended unbeaten on 70 to give him 246 runs for the match. Jaques plundered his runs off 60 balls with 12 fours,while Wood had six fours and three sixes in his 56 off 61 deliveries.

A delighted David Byas, Yorkshire's director of cricket, said: "I think this was a good all-round performance, particularly after losing the toss on a good batting pitch.

"We did extremely well to bowl them out for 281 in the first innings and it was a game in which everyone contributed.

"Kruis started off very well with good support from Matthew Hoggard and Tim Bresnan, while Jaques' 176 was a wonderful innings and I was only sorry he did not make a double century.

"Northants are a workmanlike side

and it was a very satisfying victory. Now we have to make sure that we keep on going."