WORCESTERSHIRE soon lost Stephen Peters and Anurag Singh after being put in to bat on the opening day of the Frizzell County Championship Division Two match against Northamptonshire at New Road today.

Peters made a bright and breezy 17 and Singh scored six before both were bowled by paceman John Blain.

Both openers got off the mark with singles in Andre Nel's over while Blain was cracked for three fours by Peters in his opening over from the New Road end.

Blain again came in for boundary treatment from Peters in his second over, but he had his off stump knocked out later in the over.

Singh's dismissal left the County on 36-2 in the sixth over as skipper Ben Smith came out to join Graeme Hick.

Meanwhile, Worcestershire today announced a major sponsorship deal 'worth tens of thousands of pounds' with Chinese home appliance manufacturer Haier.

The new partnership will see the County wear the Haier logo in the Championship and Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy this season.

Worcs: Peters, Singh, Hick, Smith, Solanki, Leatherdale, Batty, Rhodes, Kabir Ali, Mason, Hayward.

Northants: Hussey, Powell, Jaques, Cook, Sales, Brophy, Bailey, Phillips, Nel, Blain, Panesar.

Umpires: M.J. Harris, V.A. Holder.