Lightning defeated despite Faulkner blitz

Lancashire suffered their second defeat in as many days in the Natwest T20 Blast after Northamptonshire Steelbacks edged a four-run win at Wantage Road.

James Faulkner hit 73 off 45 balls, an innings including three fours and four sixes, but his task was too great as Lancashire failed to chase 170 runs to win the game.

The home side posted 169/5 after being inserted by Steven Croft, with contributions from captain Alex Wakely (36) and the all-round threat of Josh Cobb, who top-scored with 47 from 33 balls to give the Steelbacks a quick start.

The Lightning needed 14 runs from the final over to win, but Mohammad Azharullah (3-28) held his nerve and forced Faulkner to sky the ball back to him off his own bowling to claim a caught and bowled to seal victory with the Australian’s wicket.

Cobb got the innings off to a superb start, hitting eight fours in his knock to help Northants post 55/0 in the first six overs. Stephen Parry had both Cobb and Richard Levi back in the pavilion in the space of three balls to halt what had been a dominant start for the home side.

Levi picked out Arron Lilley at deep mid-wicket with his score on 17 and Cobb departed two balls later to Parry when he was trapped lbw, as Northants reached 68/2.

The Lancashire spinners did a superb job at pinning Northants into a corner as Parry (2-25) and Lilley (0-25) minimised the damage of Cobb’s early hitting. Former Lancashire all-rounder, Steven Crook, took the responsibility for finding the fence, smashing Croft for back-to-back sixes in the 15^th over while skipper Wakely meandered along at a run-a-ball.

Crook was unfortunate to pick out Tom Bailey at fine leg off Faulkner (1-23) for a brisk 27 off 16, but Andrew Rossington replicated his hard-hitting approach, as he also hit two sixes in quick succession to boost the total.

Wakely joined the party with a six of his own over square leg in the final over of the innings and a second six for Rossington – who made 24 off 10 balls – gave Northants a strong finish, as they added 16 runs in the final over.

Bailey was the benefactor of Rossington’s belligerent hitting when he picked out Croft at deep long-on, with Wakely finishing on 36 not out from 34 balls and Rory Kleinvedlt unbeaten on 2.

The hosts did well to post 169/5 but they were by no means out of sight, although Lancashire’s tentative start suggested that Northants had achieved a competitive score.

Ashwell Prince (11) fell in the third over of the innings to Kleinvedlt, who bowled a wicket maiden to limit Lancashire progress in the powerplay, although a superb catch from Graeme White at deep square-leg was needed to cling on to Prince’s shot at 19/1.

Liam Livingstone hit Olly Stone for a four and then a towering six over mid-wicket to keep the Lightning afloat, but the loss of Karl Brown (1) at 31/2 prevented Lancashire from scoring quickly in the first six overs in the same way as their hosts did.

Azharullah removed Lancashire’s in-form batsman when he chipped the ball to Crook and the visitors failed to kick on in the powerplay as they stumbled to 37/2 with the fielding restrictions easing thereafter.

Livingstone added 22 in 25 balls before he skied a delivery from Crook (1-29) to Ben Duckett at 48/3, bringing Faulkner to the crease in testing circumstances. Croft became the second Lancashire wicket to fall for the addition of seven runs when he was bowled by White (1-23) for 14, a damaging spell for the visitors who were struggling to compete in their chase of 170.

Faulkner and Alex Davies added 91 runs for the fifth-wicket partnership with the World-Cup winner leading the charge with an early six. The Australian hit two more sixes in successive deliveries off Stone, followed by a boundary four as Lancashire fought their way back into a match where they had been second-favourites for virtually the entire game.

A fifty in just 27 balls with two fours and four sixes gave Lancashire a window of opportunity to go all the way and win, with Davies playing inventive strokes to find the gaps and ultimately give as much strike to Faulkner as possible.

Davies played his part, adding 34 in 24 deliveries, including three fours in consecutive deliveries off Azharullah, but the Lancashire wicketkeeper was bowled off the next ball by a superb Yorker with the score at 146/5.

Jordan Clark added 5 before he was Kleinveldt’s second wicket and Arron Lilley fell without scoring, or indeed facing a delivery, as he was ran out in order to give the strike back to Faulkner.

Lancashire needed six runs from the last two balls and when Lilley was removed, they needed five off the final ball, although with Faulkner on strike there was a sense that the match could have gone either way.

But it was Northants who emerged victorious as Azharullah continued to perfect his Yorker-length tactic, forcing Faulkner to sky the ball straight back to the bowler to secure a four-run win for the home side.