Gritty Northants scrap to third T20 Blast title behind Vasconcelos

Ricardo Vasconcelos led from the front as Northants dug deep and came through a thriller to win their third T20 Blast title.

Vasconcelos leads the charge. He anchored Northants with bat and energy in the field, setting the tone in a high-pressure final. A scrappy winIt wasn’t straightforward. Northants had to scrap and grind through tight moments, but held their nerve when it mattered. Historic third titleThe win gives Northants their 3rd T20 Blast trophy, adding to their reputation as one of the competition’s big T20 teams.

McSweeney did not get much further, pinned lbw on review playing back in the crease for the second time in the day, having made 30 off 16 balls. Northants promoted Lewis McManus up to No. 4, possibly to maintain a left-hand, right-hand combination, and he slipstreamed effectively as Vasconcelos took the lead with his first half-century of the campaign. Dawson was twice swept behind square for back-to-back boundaries, before a pair of crunching pulls off James Fuller took him to fifty from 33 balls.

In a game of twisting fortunes, it was David Willey's Central/West Group winners who triumphed under the Edgbaston lights. Asked to bat, as they had been in the first semi-final, Northamptonshire were bolstered by Ricardo Vasconcelos making a career-best 88 off 59 balls, only for the pendulum to swing violently the other way during a collapse that saw them lose their last eight wickets for the addition of 31, Baker taking four of them as he targeted the stumps at the death.

Northants pulled off another escape in the final. Willey and Procter delivered key blows while Weatherley’s knock kept Hampshire in it, but Northants held on to win their third T20 Blast title — 10 years after their last.

Willey strikes again

For the second time in the day, Willey took a wicket first ball of the innings to put Northants on top early. Weatherley keeps Hampshire alive. James Weatherley played a perfectly paced innings, navigating the pressure and keeping Hampshire in the chase.

Procter turns the game Run out: Procter ran out Liam Dawson off his own bowling, just as Dawson’s 35 off 18 and a 48-run stand with Weatherley had swung momentum Hampshire’s way.19th over: Procter then took 2 wickets for 7 runs, leaving Hampshire needing 15 off 6. With 15 needed, Weatherley hit the first ball of the last over skywards. Willey took a catch falling backwards at long-on and that was it. Northants were home.

Baker, bowling full and fast and straight, then applied the coup de grace in the 19th. Harrison should have opted to review after being given out lbw attempting a reverse-ramp - ball-tracking showed he was outside the line - but there was nothing lucky about the dismissals of Louis Kimber and Sales as Baker twice detonated the stumps to claim five wickets and another Finals Day first. Northants had gone from 148 for 3 to 160 for 9, although in the final analysis they already had enough.

Northamptonshire 169 (Vasconcelos 88, Baker 5-21) beat Hampshire 155 (Weatherley 75, Sales 3-25) by 14 runs