Century star Chris Lynn hails 'huge result' as Steelbacks get back to winning ways

The Aussie cracked a superb 110 not out from 68 balls to steer Northants to an eight-wicket win as they chased down the visitors' 164 for eight with seven balls to spare, much to the delight of a packed County Ground crowd.

After a steady start, with his first 50 taking 47 balls, Lynn really opened up after the halfway point of the innings, scoring his second 50 off just 19 deliveries as he hammered five sixes and 13 fours.

It was a third Steelbacks T20 ton for Lynn, and his second against the Foxes, but the Queenslander was more happy that he had helped the team to only their second win of the season, and their first at home in four attempts.

Northants remain second from bottom in the North Group, but after defeats for Birmingham Bears, Lancashire Lightning and Notts Outlaws on Friday, the table has really tightended up.

The Steelbacks are two points behind fourth-placed Lightning having played a game less, and are only four points off leaders Worcestershire Rapids, who they play on Sunday at New Road.

The win over the Foxes, who have now lost five out of five, has breathed fresh life into the Steelbacks' campaign, and Lynn said: “It's a huge result.

"Obviously, the Foxes haven’t gone the way they would have liked as well.

"So, throughout this tournament, being 14 games, you’ve got to make sure you beat the teams below you. We did that.

"It wasn't our most polished performance, but we're building.

"We had a similar win at Derby, fell short against the Bears the other night, but got the win on the board this time and hopefully just grabbed that little bit of momentum, bit of belief.

"The boys have just lacked a little bit of belief so far, and we're in a good spot at the minute.

"But that's one game. We’ve won two for the season, we're going to have to win seven or eight to make the playoffs.

"So, it's a stepping stone, but there are some good signs."

Other star performers on a good night were the recalled Ben Sanderson, who bowled his four overs in one spell to start the innings, claiming three for 25 including a beauty to dismiss Nick Welch with the second ball of the match.

And Aussie seamer AJ Tye, who has endured a tough start to life as a Steelback, showed his true colours as he snared three for 30.

There were still some areas for improvement, but overall it was a much better performance from Northants, and Lynn is hoping that improvement continues.

“We’re a team that just needs to do the basics well, and we've probably looked too far ahead and lost a bit of process," he said.

"But in this game, we stuck to our guns, stuck to our plans.

"We've done a lot of planning and previous games we've gone away from that.

"So, if we do that, we know we've got the skills. But it's not getting too far ahead of ourselves. That was a good performance."

The Steelbacks claimed the win over the Foxes without the injured Ricardo Vasconcelos.

The opener missed out with 'a niggle', which is believed to be a sprained wrist. Skipper David Willey will be hopeful he can recover in time for Sunday's trip to Worcester.