A career-best haul of 6-37 from left-arm spinner Graeme White helped Northamptonshire Steelbacks to record a 76-run victory over Lancashire Lightning at Wantage Road in the One-Day Cup.
Ben Duckett (98) fell two runs short of a maiden List A century in the process of assembling a 137-run stand with Rob Keogh (66), as the Steelbacks amassed 287/8. Nathan Buck (3-45) and Saqib Mahmood (3-55)claimed three wickets apiece in the Northants innings and at the halfway stage the game appeared to be evenly poised, but Lancashire's run-chase never got off the ground.
There were half-centuries for Luke Procter (52) and Karl Brown (51), but Lancashire could only muster 211, as they were bowled out inside 44 overs at Wantage Road, following their convicting start to the 50-over campaign when they beat Warwickshire at Old Trafford.
Northants recorded their first victory of the campaign following their highly-entertaining clash with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, a match which saw the Steelbacks lose by 20 runs despite scoring 425.
Lancashire made a strong start after winning the toss and deciding to bowl first, reducing their hosts to 37/3 in just over ten overs, with Buck making early inroads. The former Leicestershire seamer struck at the start of the third over with his seventh ball of the match, clipping the top of off-stump to remove Adam Rossington cheaply for one.
Buck then had his second wicket at the start of the seventh over, forcing Josh Cobb (22) to drive off his pads to Alviro Petersen at mid-wicket, giving him impressive figures of 2-4 from his first four overs. Mahmood joined in Lancashire's early assault with the ball, removing the Northants skipper Alex Wakely for a duck when he also found the top of off, as the visitors vindicated their decision at the toss with a formidable start.
However, an accomplished partnership between Duckett and Keogh restored parity to the contest and would later prove to be the difference between the two teams, as Lancashire failed to put together a similarly devastating partnership in their run-chase. The pair added 137 runs for the fourth wicket, with Duckett's 79-ball fifty leading the Steelbacks out of the mire.
The positive approach from these two allowed Northants to establish a platform after they had been put into bat on a wicket with a touch of assistance for the bowlers, but as the innings progressed the wicket became flat and allowed the Steelbacks to accumulate freely. Keogh went to his half-century marginally faster than Duckett, hitting a 62-ball fifty before he became Buck's third victim of the match, helping the Lancashire fast bowler to take 3-45 from his ten-over allocation.
Duckett and Keogh's mammoth partnership of 137 runs was ended when the latter skied Buck's second ball of a new spell into the hands of Tom Smith. Jordan Clark denied Duckett his first century in 50-over cricket when he forced the wicketkeeper-batsman to play-on for 98, with Northants progressing to 212/5.
Cameos from Steven Crook (19) and Seekkuge Prasanna - who hit 30 from just 17 balls - helped push Northants towards a more competitive total, but Mahmood returned at the death of the innings to remove the dangerous Sri Lankan after he had hit two fours and as many sixes. Prasanna was bowled at 276/8 by the 19-year-old seamer, who finished with figures of 3-55 when Rob Newton was also bowled for 21.
A target of 288 was imminently plausible for Lancashire to chase given the strength of their batting lineup, but all-but two of their batsmen failed to establish a resistance, as the left-arm spin of White took the game away from them. A shaky and circumspect start saw Petersen chop on to his stumps off Azharullah (2-53) for three in the third over, with Brown's strength through the off-side bringing a much-needed sense of urgency to the reply.
Smith struggled to break free of the shackles when Azharullah and Richard Gleeson's economical and disciplined start forced pressure to build upon the Lancashire top order. A memorable day for White started when he was introduced into the attack, with the visitors on 67/1 at the start of the 15th over. The leg spinner struck with his very first ball when he had Smith bowled for 14 and this set the tone for a dominating spell of bowling from the former Nottinghamshire spinner.
Brown continued to offer Lancashire their best chance of chasing 288, hitting seven boundaries on his way to a half-century in 46 deliveries, but he failed to contain in his enthusiasm, chipping White to Cobb at mid-on two balls after reaching fifty. Another scintillating innings from Jos Buttler would have brought Lancashire back into contention, but when he was bowled for two by Prasanna, it signalled a huge breakthrough for the Steelbacks.
Lancashire's top order continued their flustered start when Liam Livingstone was then stumped off White for 18, as the visitors slumped to 98/5. Steven Croft showed early signs of leading a revival, but the Lancashire captain was run out for 20 when he was sent back by Procter after coming halfway down the wicket, a peculiar dismissal given the already-fractured state of the Red Rose run-chase.
Procter and Clark added 54 runs for the sixth wicket to restore balance to the game, but White continued to extract prodigious turn and soon enough Clark was stumped for 17. White secured his second five-wicket haul in List A cricket when he bowled Stephen Parry (6) and he was handed career-best figures of 6-37 when Buck (7) was out via the same mode of dismissal, attempting a sweep slog off the dangerous left-arm spinner.
There was just enough time for Procter to squeeze in a thoroughly-deserved fifty in 63 deliveries, but he was the final Lancashire wicket to fall when he was bowled by Azharullah for 52, as the visitors were bowled out for 211 inside the 44th over, handing Northants a 76-run margin of victory.
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