Skipper McManus admits Steelbacks second best as they are downed by Durham

The Northants skipper felt his side were '30 runs short' as they failed to build on a brilliant start, collapsing from 148 for one to 260 all out, and then admitted the bowling attack 'misexecuted' as the home side cruised home with 11 balls to spare.

It was a fourth defeat in four Group A matches for the Steelbacks, and means their hopes of a top three finish and a place in the knockout stages are all but over with four matches still to play.

Yet things had started so well in a must-win game, with Prithvi Shaw hammering 16 fours and one six in a superb 97 from 71 balls.

But when he was dismissed with the score on 148, the rest of the batting fell away as the Steelbacks were bowled out for the third time in the campaign.

Durham were then reduced to 26 for two in the 10th over of their reply, but a brilliant 108 from Colin Ackerman and 55 from skipper Alex Lees turned the tide, the pair putting on a match-winning 133 for the third wicket.

There was a clutch of wickets in the closing overs from Northants, but it was too little, too late, as Durham got over the line.

"We had a good platform going into the last 20 overs," said McManus, who scored 32 before holing out trying to up the pace in the closing overs.

"I thought the pitch was very dificult to bat on. It spun and we kept losing wickets when I felt we ould kick on a little bit, and that was tough.

"I think we were 30 runs of where we wanted to be and then we misexecuted with the ball and that's hurt us. So it was very disappointing.

"We also knew that pitch was going to get worse and that's why we batted on it.

"We didn't bowl as well as we wanted to in the middle of their innings, but I also thought their main batsmen played very well and put us under pressure on a pitch that was turning."

Shaw's innings was the outstanding effort of the day for Northants, and McManus praised the Indian batter, while also bemoaning his side's inability to make the most of the start he gave the side.

"A lot of the guys said it wasn't the sort of pitch where you might expect to get 97 off 71 as Prithvi did," admitted McManus.

"But a theme has been that we haven't gone on and kept the momentum going. Playing for 50 overs is a helluva long time."

Northants are back in action on Sunday when they entertain Worcestershire at the County Ground (start 11am).

It is the club's 'Community Day', and admission for all is just £2.