Buttler fifty helps Lancs defeat Northants.

Buttler equalled the record for Lancashire's
fastest T20 fifty in 22 balls.

Jos Buttler top-scored with 58 from 36 balls as Lancashire Lightning earned their sixth Natwest T20 Blast victory of the season by defeating Northamptonshire Steelbacks by 53 runs.

Lancashire set Northants a mammoth target of 188 to win, but the visitors were bowled out for 134 as Junaid Khan (3-16) continued his imperious record in this format.

The hosts had made a nervous start after loosing top run-scorer, Tom Smith for just two runs, but Ashwell Prince (43) and Karl Brown (46) added 90 runs for the second-wicket to steer the innings in the right direction.

Both batsmen fell with the score at 99, but Buttler and Steven Croft were able to harness their Championship form into the shortest form of the game, as they added a further 88 runs to ensure that Lancashire would post a daunting score of 187-3.

Buttler registered the equal-fastest half-century for Lancashire by reaching fifty in just 22 balls, in an innings containing three sixes.

It was very much a well-rounded display from Lancashire, who restricted Northants' progress by removing danger men, Richard Levi and David Willey, early on as the visitors stumbled to 5-2.

Croft was particularly effective with the ball, after he had scored 29 from 20 balls in Lancashire's innings, affording a mere 17 runs from his four-over allocation. He was assisted by fellow spinners, Arron Lilley and Stephen Parry (1-36), who wounded Northants just as they seemed poised to make a response.

Lilley (2-28) removed David Sales (25) and Rob Keogh (28) after they had added 42 for the third-wicket in a brief recovery, but the visitors lost their final eight wickets for 83 runs, after Khan ended any chances of a revival.

Having fallen to 74-5, Ben Duckett (17) and Matt Spriegel (32) made a fifty partnership for the sixth-wicket, but Khan claimed three wickets in one over to put the results beyond any doubt.

The Steelbacks lost their final five wickets for 10 runs and Kabir Ali (2-37) claimed the final wicket of the innings when Croft took the catch on the boundary to cap-off a fine all-round contribution.