NORTHAMPTON (Northamptonshire won toss): Northamptonshire Steelbacks (2pts) beat Warwickshire Bears by 38 runs
THE odds of 33-1 against the Steelbacks winning the Twenty20 Cup seem a tad generous after this second successive victory, their punishing 143 for five in a match reduced to 14 overs a side proving too much for Warwickshire, who suffered a second defeat.
A crowd of 4,500 lapped up an atmosphere fuelled by an innings of 36 from 22 balls by David Sales, a prime contributor when the Steelbacks amassed a competition record score of 224 against Gloucestershire two days earlier. Sales even took 20 off five balls from Jonathan Trott.
Without a spinner in sight, Warwickshire bowled with all the predictability that Sales and Bilal Shafayat, who struck 31 from 19 balls, relish. Their second-wicket partnership of 72 in six overs opened the way for Ben Phillips to thrash 31 off 18 balls in another delightful cameo.
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Tim Roberts had been dismissed off the eleventh ball of the match but the Steelbacks made even swifter inroads into the Bears’ batting. Neil Carter lost his middle and off stumps to the first ball from Damien Wright and Nick Knight was caught in the next over.
Somehow, Warwickshire passed the half-century mark in the seventh over, the same as the Steelbacks, but had lost three wickets, compared with one. They needed 82 to win off the final five overs, a task beyond their compass when Trott was stumped and Alex Loudon lost his middle stump to Phillips, who took four for 18.
SHOW-STOPPER: The groundstaff mopping up an outfield that was under water in the afternoon.
SHOW-DOWNER: Warwickshire being the only side in the group without a win.