Northamptonshire Steelbacks make the significant journey up to Chester-Le-Street as they hunt for a home quarter-final against Durham in the final group game of the Vitality Blast on Friday.
The Steelbacks secured quarter-final qualification prior to the game after Worcestershire Rapids defeated Nottinghamshire Outlaws on Thursday evening. After back-to-back victories in the previous week, with a high-scoring thriller over Derbyshire Falcons followed by a complete performance at Edgbaston, seeing off Birmingham Bears by 64 runs, the Steelbacks are just one win away from ensuring their quarterfinal will be at Wantage Road.
Sitting on 32 points, two clear of opponents Durham, Darren Lehmann’s side can secure a home quarter-final for September with a victory in the North-East.
Durham inflicted the Steelbacks’ first defeat of the Vitality Blast campaign back in June, winning by 15 runs. A result that began a series of worrying defeats, as Steelbacks lost five games in a row, has now been cast aside after two impressive victories have put them back in the top two.
Ahead of the game, we caught up with Darren Lehmann to discuss Matt Breetzke’s excellent form since returning from international duty and the potential quarter-final qualification.
The Steelbacks squad is unchanged as they look to finish the group stage campaign with three straight victories.
Durham missed out on the chance to draw level with the Steelbacks on Tuesday evening after their penultimate fixture of the group stage against Leicestershire Foxes was washed out.
Qualification has become more complicated after consecutive defeats prior to Tuesday, with Lancashire Lighting and Nottinghamshire Outlaws both chasing down scores in the 150s. Despite this, victory on Friday night will see them finish above their opponents and almost certainly in the top two.
The game is set to start at 6:30pm.