Northamptonshire 191 (Willey 46, Waite 3-42) beat Worcestershire 91 (Kashif 38, Harrison 4-17)

A clinical performance with bat and ball saw Northants Steelbacks crush Worcestershire Rapids by 100-runs at New Road, with Calvin Harrison playing a starring role.

David Willey (46 off 23) blasted the Steelbacks out of the blocks, with quickfire contributions from Ricardo Vasconcelos and Harrison steering the visitors to a competitive 191 at the halfway mark.

A disastrous start for the Rapids saw the hosts slide to 34 for 4, as Ben Sanderson (2 for 8) put the Steelbacks in charge.

Kashif Ali (38) produced the most resilient knock for the home side, but a lower order collapse spearheaded by Harrison’s 4 for 17 drove Northants to a commanding victory.

Chris Lynn charged out of the blocks for the visitors, but saw his opening salvo ended for 15 when the Australian could only edge behind with his attempted heave.

Brett D’Oliveira shuffled his bowlers early on as Vasconcelos and Willey shifted through the gears, belting 24 off an Adam Finch over as the Steelbacks rattled through the powerplay, ending it 60 for 1.

Willey found his range, as the second wicket stand passed fifty in just 27 balls, with the left hander stepping up his assault in the eighth over by launching a Matthew Waite ball into the stands deep on the legside.

The Northants’ skipper came a cropper for 46, having lashed seven boundaries in his 23-ball blitz, when he spliced a ball from Ethan Brookes straight down the throat of D’Oliveira.

Pakistan international Usama Mir brought the home side right back into the game when in the next over he removed Vasconcelos (34), after a smart catch in the deep by Taylor collected the third Steelbacks wicket.

99-3 at the halfway stage, Finch (3 for 36) returned and repeated his antics from Friday night with a double wicket burst in the 12th over, first having Louis Kimber caught in the deep by Isaac Mohammed for 14, before the seamer saw off the dangerous Saif Zaib first ball as the batter nicked behind to Roderick.

The home side thwarted the visitors in the middle overs, with Justin Broad (29) making a start before mistiming a pull to midwicket that stalled the visitors at 153-6.

Isaac gave Calvin Harrison a reprieve on 26 when he put one down at long-on in the 18th but made no mistake an over later when he caught Lewis McManus cheaply from the returning Finch.

Waite was rewarded in the last over with two wickets in identical fashion when both Harrison (30) and Ben Sanderson (2) held out to Taylor at long-on, as Northants set the Rapids 192 to win.

Ben Sanderson snagged two wickets early in the reply when he had both Isaac and D’Oliveira caught in successive overs as the away side made a dominant start to reduce the Rapids to 23 for 2.

The visitors tightened their grip on the contest in the fifth over when Adam Hose pulled a James Sales longhop straight to Harrison at deep square leg as the home side limped through the powerplay.

The 2025 semi-finalists could barely believe their luck when Ethan Brookes befell the same fate as his predecessor, this time off a George Scrimshaw delivery as the hosts lost their fourth wicket.

Kashif (38) showed glimpses of his destructive best as he muscled the ball into the legside boundary sporadically, whilst Raza did his best to break the shackles in a cameo of 18, but his dismissal to Calvin Harrison spelled the beginning of the end for Worcestershire.

A lower order collapse saw the Rapids lose five wickets for just 11 runs, as Harrison ripped through the tail to seal the Steelbacks win with five overs to spare and secure Darren Lehman’s side a second successive Vitality Blast T20 win.