Northamptonshire Steelbacks will be looking to make it a remarkable eight wins from eight in the Vitality Blast when they travel to Bristol to face Gloucestershire tomorrow.
At a sold out cinch County Ground on Friday, the Steelbacks dismantled Essex by 130 runs to claim their biggest ever margin of victory in the competition.
Batting first, the hosts put on 236/8 thanks to Chris Lynn (75), David Willey (65) and Ricardo Vasconcelos (44). Vasconcelos and Lynn enjoyed a brilliant powerplay, finishing 85/0 after the opening six overs.
With the ball the Steelbacks were clinical, bowling Essex out for 108. Calvin Harrison claimed remarkable career-best figures of 5/9 from just 2.2 overs.
The win wrapped up their seventh win in a row in the competition, eclipsing the six wins in a row in 2025.
Attention now turns to Gloucestershire, who currently sit second behind Northamptonshire in the Central & West group.
The west country outfit have won five and lost two from their opening seven and have 20 points, four more than third-placed Glamorgan.
The sides have already met in the tournament, with Northamptonshire claiming a comfortable seven-wicket win at the cinch County Ground.
Play at the Seat Unique Stadium is set to start at 7pm with the host county providing a livestream. You can follow all of the action with live match updates on our social media platforms.
Squad news:
Louis Kimber returns to the squad after recovering from a hamstring problem.
Chris Lynn is in the squad despite suffering hamstring tightness in the game against Essex. A late call will be made on his involvement in the game. Luke Procter remains sidelined with a broken finger.
Steelbacks squad to face Gloucestershire:
David Willey (C), George Bartlett, Justin Broad, Calvin Harrison, Louis Kimber, Chris Lynn, Lewis McManus, Nathan McSweeney, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, George Scrimshaw, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Raphy Weatherall, Saif Zaib
Before the trip to Bristol, we spoke to Head Coach Darren Lehmann about the Essex win, taking it one game at a time and areas to improve.
Opponent preview:
Gloucestershire
Previewed by Richard Latham, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Jack Taylor
Overseas players: D’Arcy Short (Australia, all), Cameron Bancroft (Australia, all), Liam Scott (Australia, final six games)
Finals Day appearances: Four (2003, 2007, 2020, 2024)
Titles: One (2024)
2025 finish: 7th in South Group
2025 leading run-scorer: D’Arcy Short (515)
2025 leading wicket-taker: David Payne (17)
Key winter moves: News that D’Arcy Short would return for the 2026 Blast came as a huge boost after the Australian’s impact on the competition last season. After a slow start, Short scored five half-centuries, with a top score of 83 off just 48 balls against Middlesex at Bristol. His tally of 515 runs was 239 more than Gloucestershire’s next highest scorer.
The big question: How will Gloucestershire’s bowling attack fare following the loss of Josh Shaw, Ajeet Singh Dale and Zaman Akhter to rival counties?
Wildcard watch: Ben Charlesworth. The 25-year-old left-hander, who began the season by announcing his intention to leave Gloucestershire at the end of it, had a disappointing Blast campaign last year, registering eight scores below 20 in 13 innings. But he has the power and talent to mark his last T20 campaign at Bristol with a much better return.
Final thought: Momentum is a powerful force in Blast cricket and Gloucestershire’s last campaign was a perfect illustration. As reigning champions, they made a disastrous start, losing their first five group matches. Four successive victories were then chalked up before hopes of qualifying from the group were dashed by four defeats in the last five games. A good start this season would build confidence and could make the team the force they were in 2024.