Sadler frustrated as Northants suffer second straight One Day Cup defeat

Two days after their opening two-wicket loss at the hands of Derbyshire, the Steelbacks were thumped by 71 runs at Hampshire, being bowled out 214 chasing the home side's 285 for eight.

It was another frustrating defeat, with Hampshire recovering from 96 for five to post their winning total, and Northants then collapsing from 98 for one to lose with what Sadler described as a 'poor' effort.

On Wednesday, Derbyshire also managed to win having been reduced to 79 for seven at Wantage Road, and Sadler says he believes both matches should have been won.

Instead, Northants go to Middlesex on Monday pointless in Group A and with a lot of work to do if they are to stand a chance of finishing in the top three and qualifying for the knockout stages.

Ben Brown was the batting star for Hampshire, hammering 139 not out from 131 balls, with substatial support coming from Felix Organ (59) with the pair putting on 118 for the sixth wicket.

Northants weren't helped by the fact Jack White could only bowl six overs, after injuring his knee diving to dismiss Nick Gubbins caught and bowled.

That was part of a seriously good opening spell that saw the seamer claim three for six from six overs, but he was unable to complete his overs and Hampshire took full advantage.

Saif Zaib claimed three for 60, but it was a nightmare day for left-arm seamer Michael Finan, brough in to replace the rested Ben Sanderson, as his five overs went for 44.

With the bat, Gus Miller top scored with 47 from 49 balls, while Prithvi Shaw (40), Emilio Gay (34), Ricardo Vasconcelos (22) and Zaib (22) all making starts without going on.

“I think 285 was over par from the position we had them in in the first half," said Sadler.

"Jack White getting injured and not being able to bowl any more was a big blow but they got more than they should have done.

“Fair play to Browny but at one point they didn’t look like getting 180 let alone 280.

"On a better day we would chase them down with the batting we’ve got.

“The way we batted was poor as a unit. There is a lot of experience in that room but I thought our thinking was well below what I would expect.

“We’ve had two losses from two games now and in my opinion we should have two wins.

"I’m quite frustrated about that. We are better than that and we have to be better than that.”

Sadler will be hoping White's injury is nothing serious, and he said: "Jack jarred his knee when he took that caught and bowled and then did it again while fielding.

"He kept going but when he stopped bowling it seized up a bit and struggled to get it going again."

Northants are back in action on Monday and in desperate need of a win as they travel to Brunton Memorial Ground in Radlett to take on Middlesex, who lost their opening game at Worcestershire by a whopping 183 runs.

Quotes courtesy of Alex Smith