Upbeat Sadler says qualification still in Steelbacks' hands despite Foxes defeat

That was the message from head coach John Sadler after Northants Steelbacks suffered a damaging three-wicket Vitality Blast defeat at Leicestershire Foxes on Friday night.

The loss saw the Foxes leapfrog Northants in the North Group table thanks to their superior net run-rate, with the Steelbacks dropping to fifth and out of the quarter-final qualification places.

Northants are still very much in the hunt for a last-eight place though, as they have a game in hand on the three sides above them, and know that a win at third-placed Durham on Sunday will see them back in the top four with two matches to play.

Those two matches are against the current top two though, as they face leaders Birmingham Bears at the County Ground on Thursday, and then go to Old Trafford to play Lancashire Lightning on Friday night.

“We’ve played some good cricket in this group," said Sadler after Friday night's defeat.

"We said before this game that two wins from the last four would probably see us through and we can still do that.

"It is in our hands.”

Former Steelbacks all-rounder Jimmy Neesham was the Foxes star man on Friday, hitting a matchwinning 67 from 34 balls to see his side home as they chased down the Steelbacks' 183 for seven with five balls to spare.

Ravi Bopara hit 61 from 44 balls and Saif Zaib 50 from 28, but the Steelbacks' innings faded in the final overs and Sadler felt they should have topped 200 which he believes would have been enough to win.

“Leicestershire bowled pretty well at the death when another 15 more for us on top of what we had might have been enough to get us over the line," said Sadler.

"It was a good game of cricket and we didn’t quite get over the line.

“They had a good start with the bat and conceding 28 off the first two overs wasn’t what we wanted but that’s the nature of T20.

"We know that those two at the top of their order, that’s the way they play. They might be 30 for none after two overs but they might equally be 10 for three.

“But we dragged it back well in the powerplay and I think honours were even after that.

"We had a brilliant phase where we took 20 for three from overs seven to 10.

"But experience shows and in the same way that it did for us from Ravi (Bopara) and Saif (Zaib), they had it with Louis Kimber and Jimmy Neesham, who played beautifully and got them over the line."

And on Zaib's superb half-century, the head coach added: "We know that Saif can do that.

"He has been one of our best T20 players in the last three seasons in different roles and he played beautifully under pressure in this game."

The Steelbacks now go to Durham for their next match on Sunday (2.30pm), having beaten the north east side by five wickets last weekend.

Durham go into the game off the back of a 30-run win over Notts Outlaws on Friday, a result that saw them go a point clear of the Steelbacks, having played one game more.

There was a Friday night defeat for leaders Bears who went down at home by 55 runs to Worcestershire Rapids, while second-placed Lancashire's Roses clash with Yorkshire Vikings was abanonded without a ball being bowled.

It means the Steelbacks trail leaders Bears by four points, and are three behind Lightning, with a game in hand.

Sunday's clash with Durham will be the last of a four-match stint from Australian import Ashton Agar, with Sikandar Raza due to return from international duty for the final two North Group games.

Quotes courtesy of Jon Culley