Steelbacks suffer second successive T20 defeat

Former Steelbacks star Ben Duckett did a decent job in the Notts reply, registering 26 from 19 deliveries.Duckett was able to build on the solid foundations laid by openers Joe Clarke (45) and Alex Hales (33) as Northants struggled from the start with the ball.Graeme White (1-19), Nathan Buck (1-26) and Dwaine Pretorius (1-32) did get among the wickets, but Notts finished the job on 155 for three with 11 balls to spare.Earlier, Northants had made 152 for eight from their 20 overs, with captain Josh Cobb (36), Pretorius (34), White (27no) and Faheem Ashraf (24) making the only notable contributions.The Steelbacks had won the toss and opted to bat, but they limped to 39 for two from the opening six overs, with Matt Carter removing the dangerous Adam Rossington with the sixth ball of the match.Cobb hit both Carter and Samit Patel for sixes but was then completely bamboozled by Harry Gurney’s slower delivery and could only balloon the ball up to cover.Christian couldn’t have had a better start with the ball, bowling Rob Keogh with his first delivery and having Matt Coles caught behind with his fifth.The Steelbacks’ new overseas pairing of Pretorius and Ashraf mounted a counter-attack, adding 36 in just three overs together but neither could see out the innings. Ashraf was unlucky, having plundered 24 from only 14 balls he was caught by a diving Gurney at short third man, giving Christian his third wicket.Pretorius fell to Jake Ball, leaving White to muscle some useful runs in the closing couple of overs, hitting two sixes.On a decent surface, with a fast outfield, the eventual total appeared light and so it proved, extending Northants’ unwanted record of never having beaten Notts in the group stages.