Sadler rues costly 30 minutes as Steelbacks fall to defeat at Kent

The Steelbacks had started well after winning the toss and opting to bat, with Emilio Gay (49) and Ricardo Vasconcelos (31) laying the foundations.

But Northants then started to struggle as wickets fell, meaning they stumbled to 210 all out.

And Kent eventually got home in reply as Ben Compton's 87 proved key.

“I think the game was lost in probably half an hour to be honest," Northants head coach Sadler said.

"We got off to a tremendous start on a pitch we weren’t quite sure of and then we didn’t perform for about half an hour.

“The basics of the game in this format of 50 overs still stand up. There’s a lot to be said for the old schoolness of building an innings and assessing the conditions, as Compton showed. I thought he played really well.

“I think we were in Twenty20 mode for that period rather than kind of taking the game a little bit deeper and dealing with a bit of pressure. It’s frustrating.

"We thought 250 would have been a decent score, we were a little bit unsure after that first 10 overs, because we got off to a tremendous start, but the question was always going to be what happens when the spinners come on, because it was a used pitch, it was dry and I don’t think we gave ourselves long enough to assess how to play spin out there. Before we knew it, the game was gone.

“James Sales (who made 23) has been great through this comp, he’s getting some good exposure and he’s learning every day, which is just fantastic.

"The way he played today, he tried to play the game the right way.

"He assessed what was in front of him and tried to do what he thought was right.

"Fair play to him, but by the time he came in, as a young lad, we were behind the game, the game had pretty much gone I think.”