Lancashire fightback stuns Northants

Friends Life t20, Northampton

Lancashire 110-9 (20 overs) beat Northants 107-5 (20 overs) by three runs

Match scorecard

Friends Life t20

Lancashire pulled off an unlikely victory against Northants after batting first and posting just 110-9.

Gareth Cross (18) top-scored for the visitors as Andrew Hall (3-17) and his fellow bowlers had the better of things.

Rob White (33) got Northants off to a steady start before Alex Wakely (52) put them in a strong position.

But their run-rate remained a concern and Junaid Khan (2-12) bowled a fine last over to leave them short on 107-5.

And Northants will be kicking themselves after going into that final over needing just seven runs for victory.

That made them favourites but Wakely was run out by Stephen Moore as their chances fell apart in dramatic fashion.

Khan's fine four-over spell was a major factor in slowing the home side's progress and he held his nerve to bowl a dot ball with the final delivery which prevented Northants claiming the boundary they needed.


Northants bastman Alex Wakely told BBC Radio Northampton:

"I think games like this are lost in the middle or at the start. You can't really put it down to (what happens at) the end.

"Someone can bowl a good over or get hit for a couple of sixes.

"We've batted and bowled well in periods, but never together. The bowlers have pretty much done their job throughout the season but we've only managed four fifties."