2:10 AM IST, 9:40 PM Local Time | A batting blitzkrieg from Northamptonshire to chase down the target and win the top-of-the-table clash against Gloucestershire by 8 wickets! Northamptonshire extend their unbeaten run at the top!
Gloucestershire won the toss and elected to bat first! Dawid Malan's unbeaten 91 runs off 55 balls and twin 33s from Liam Scott and Miles Hammond ensured Gloucestershire established a total of 184/2 at the end of their 20 overs. There was not much in it for the bowlers as Sales and Harrison picked up a wicket each.
Come the chase, on a flat batting track, the Steelbacks came out all guns blazing. Ricardo Vasconcelos and Nathan McSweeney gave their team a flying start with an 82-run opening partnership in just over 8 overs. Ahmed dismissed Vasconcelos for 36 runs, but it would prove to be a minor blip in the chase.
Skipper David Willey walked out to the middle and broke the chase's back with McSweeney with a 99-run partnership for the second wicket, with both batters scoring high-strike-rate half-centuries to blow Gloucestershire out of the water. David Willey was dismissed by Ahmed 4 runs away from the target, but till then Willey had smashed 73 runs off 32 balls!
Nathan McSweeney remained unbeaten at the end with 72 runs off 40 balls to ensure his team crossed the finish line comfortably. Daaryoush Ahmed was the sole wicket-taker for Gloucestershire with the figures of 2/35 from 4 overs.
In the end, the Gloucs may have misread the pitch at the toss, and it played into the hands of the Steelbacks, who ensured that the game was never a contest after the halfway mark!