Sanderson's pride as he joins exclusive '100 club' with Northants Steelbacks

The 36-year-old became only the second County bowler to go past the 100-wicket mark in T20 cricket at Wantage Road on Sunday, reaching the milestone when Leicestershire Foxes' Lewis Hill was caught at gulley by George Bartlett.

It was the second wicket of a stunning four for 15 haul as the Steelbacks claimed a five-wicket Vitality Blast win, and saw Sanderson join skipper Willey in a very exclusive 100 club - with the former England all-rounder having gone past three figures in County colours last summer.

"I am really proud of that," admitted Sanderson, who now has 102 wickets to his name, nine shy of Willey’s 111.

"I knew Dave was the first, so to be in that sort of category with Dave, who is such a class act and a great player, is a real honour."

Seamer Sanderson now has a remarkable 571 wickets across all formats for Northants, with his efforts on Sunday taking him above Austin Matthews' haul of 567. Matthews played for the County in the 1920s and 30s.

Sanderson now has 108 wickets in total in T20 cricket, having also taken a handful early in his career at Yorkshire, and Sunday's effort saw him match his career-best figures as he claimed a fourth four-wicket haul.

The County Ground wicket was certainly conducive to quality seam bowling, with Sanderson and Willey (3-20) taking full advantage to reduce the Foxes to 39 for seven, and Sanderson admitted the way the pitch played came as something of a surprise.

"It probably did more than we expected, but I think last year the fresh wickets did nibble around a little bit early doors," he said.

"But on Sunday it just seemed to keep doing it the entire game, where normally it gets a bit flatter as the ball gets a little bit softer, but it just kept doing it.

"We didn't expect that, we expected the pitch to get better, but we did what was required on it and got the points."

The Steelbacks eventually got past the Foxes' 122 all out with five wickets and four balls to spare, and the way the match panned out was in stark contrast to Friday night's opening win at Headingley against Yorkshire Vikings.

On that occasion, the Steelbacks won by 13 runs after hamnmering the ball to all parts racking up a club record 237 for four, and Sanderson admitted: "Cricket is a bonkers game and anything can happen.

"You can't take your foot off the gas at any point or it will bite you on the backside, but it is a great game to play."

The Steelbacks will be aiming to make it three Blast wins out of three when they travel to Derbyshire Falcons on Wednesday night (start 6.30pm).