'Bittersweet' for centurion Cobb as Steelbacks fail to beat Bears

Cobb became the first Steelbacks player to hit a T20 century at the County Ground, but his exceptional efforts were in vain as his side lost by 17 runs to Birmingham Bears.

The Bears racked up 187 for seven after taking 92 runs from the final seven overs of their innings.

And the Steelbacks never looked likely to reach the victory target as Cobb was not given any support.

Eighteen from Ricardo Vasconcelos was Northants' next best score and it told the tale of a reply that stuttered significantly, eventually ending on 170 for seven.

"We lost wickets at bad times - we never really built a partnership," Cobb said.

"We lost wickets constantly throughout the innings and we tried to hit some sixes to the big boundary rather than trying to target the short boundary having got in.

"We keep making the same mistakes throughout the comp.

"It's one of those comps and we're not learning quickly enough."

The defeat was a ninth in 10 Vitality Blast games for the Steelbacks this season, with the other game a tie at Edgbaston last month.

And though it was not a good result for the team, Cobb could at least seek consolation in his own return to form.

"It's obviously bittersweet but it was pleasing having had a few low scores recently," he said.

"I literally felt like I didn't know where the next six was coming from but I had a good net this morning, it was pleasing to get a few out the middle and get a score. It's just unfortunate that it was on a losing side.

"I hadn't felt great, but everything seemed to come out the middle in the nets this morning and that gave me that bit of confidence.

"It's a confidence game.

"It was my day today but sadly it wasn't enough to get the boys over the line."