MATCH PREVIEW: Northants Steelbacks v Lancashire Lightning
Two weeks is a long time in cricket. No doubt, leaving Headingley a fortnight ago after a Roses Blast defeat, Lancashire had their tails between their legs having also been beaten at Durham a few days earlier.
Northants Steelbacks v Lancashire Lightning
Vitality Blast, North Group
Friday July 5, 2024, 6.30pm
Wantage Road
The excellent start to the North Group campaign had hit a speed bump, but since then they have claimed a superb County Championship win over Kent at Canterbury before having much the better of a draw against Nottinghamshire at Southport to ensure they return to Blast action with spirits high.
Heading into the business end of the Blast, the Red Rose are encouragingly placed in second place in the North with five wins from eight games.
Sat on 10 points, they are two behind league leaders Birmingham Bears. Importantly, they are one point clear of fifth-placed Durham, who are one of three teams on nine points. That Yorkshire, on eight points, are sixth indicates that the race for the top four places and the quarter-finals is going to go down to the wire.
Northamptonshire are fourth on nine points having won four of eight games.
This is the first of six remaining group games through until July 19.
Opposition:
Northamptonshire Steelbacks are firmly in the mix for a third Blast title having claimed a quartet of wins so far in 2024. They are the champions of 2013 and 2016.
Of course, this fixture will always hold a special place in the hearts of Lancastrians, given the Lightning beat the Steelbacks to win the 2015 final at Edgbaston.
Coached by John Sadler, they are captained in this format by hometown hero David Willey, the former England all-rounder who retired from international cricket after the failed 50-over World Cup campaign in India last November.
Dashing South African opening batter Matthew Breetzke is with them for the entire competition as an overseas player, while spin-bowling all-rounders Sikander Raza and Ashton Agar have shared the other overseas spot.
Raza played the first eight games and Agar is playing the last four.
Breetzke is their leading run-scorer this campaign with 299, including a best of 94, while Ravi Bopara and fledgling seamer Raphael Weatherall are their joint leading wicket-takers with nine apiece.
Former Lancashire all-rounder Luke Procter, their Championship captain, doesn’t play Blast cricket.
Northamptonshire - not Northants, they don’t like that nickname - lost their last Blast game against Birmingham at Edgbaston on June 20 when the hosts amassed an unassailable 219-4. The Steelbacks replied with 129-9.
Opposition player to watch:
He’s not an unknown, but Ravi Bopara has been Northamptonshire’s outstanding player in this season’s Blast - his first campaign with them for T20 cricket only.
Bopara, 39-years-old, is with his third county having played the majority of his cricket at Essex before moving to Sussex.
The ex-England international - he played the last of his 171 matches in 2015 - has hit 212 runs and taken nine wickets for the Steelbacks in this season’s North Group.
Bopara has played 470 T20 matches for a host of teams and is closing in on a couple of career milestones having scored 9,318 runs added to 286 wickets.
Previous meeting:
Lancashire completed the double over Northamptonshire last year. They won by 35 runs at Wantage Road in mid-June, with Steven Croft starring with 101.
Then, a couple of weeks later at Emirates Old Trafford, Lightning won by six wickets chasing a target of just 139.
Luke Wood stood out with a brilliant 3-17 from four overs have taken the new ball - the key contribution in restricting the Steelbacks to 138-7.
In reply, Phil Salt opened up with 74 not out off 51 balls, giving the Steelbacks a mountain to climb. In the end, Lancashire won with 3.2 overs to spare.
Salt hit five fours and four sixes.
What they said:
The cavalry is coming, says Dale Benkenstein, as Lancashire prepare for the Vitality Blast run-in.
The Red Rose coach has confirmed a number of availability question-marks ahead of the final six North Group fixtures, starting with the trip to Wantage Road.
Pacers Saqib Mahmood and Luke Wood will return for the Blast having missed the last two Championship matches: “They’ll come back into the T20s - they’ve had a good break,” said the former South Africa international batter.
“We get Tommy Hartley back, and we should get Salty back for a couple of games.
“He’s just having a rest this weekend.
“Also, Tom Aspinwall is fit again.
“I think everyone’s a bit fresher now, and we have six games to hit our straps and try and qualify.”
Lancashire lost their last two games in the Blast - immediately before the fortnight break for Championship cricket. They were beaten on the road by Durham and then Yorkshire.
“The encouraging thing is that the games we lost, we were almost one shot away from winning as well,” reflected Benkenstein. “We were never blown out of a game - we’ve been in contention every game.”
Lancashire currently sit second in the North Group, two points behind leaders Birmingham. A top-two finish, as ever, would secure a home quarter-final.
Benkenstein added: “The home one would be nice, but I just want to qualify.
“That’s the most important thing, and then we’ll take it from there.”
How’s Stat!
Tom Hartley is eight wickets away from becoming the 10th bowler to claim 50 T20 wickets for Lancashire.
Hartley is in line to return to Lightning colours after England duty at the T20 World Cup, where he didn’t make an appearance in his country’s run to the semi-finals.
In fact, the left-arm spinner has not played any cricket since since May 10, when Lancashire were beaten in the Championship by Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
Hartley is currently sat on 42 wickets in T20 cricket for Lancashire. When he gets to 50, he would be the sixth spinner to do so for the county; Stephen Parry, Matthew Parkinson, Steven Croft, Gary Keedy and Liam Livingstone the others.