Durham Jets are the next visitors to the County Ground, and while the Steelbacks will be buzzing after the midweek win over Derbyshire Falcons they will need to keep minds very focused on Friday night.
The Jets are the form team in the North Group, having won eight of their 11 matches. Beaten by the Steelbacks in the 2016 final, the Jets had a poor 2017, finishing ninth in the group, but have bounced back in style in 2018 and are well set for the quarter finals.
This is a team that never knows when they are beaten, something that was evident in Tuesday’s win at Old Trafford. Lancashire needed just six runs to win going into the final over of the night, but Liam Trevaskis took three wickets for just one run in those half-a-dozen balls to spin his team to victory.
The 19-year-old is one of a crop of homegrown players at the Riverside, but at the other end of the experience spectrum Paul Collingwood continues to be the Jets’ main man, 22 years after his senior debut against Northamptonshire.
The Steelbacks have been improving steadily over the past couple of weeks, despite their heavy defeat to Durham at the Riverside last Thursday. Head coach David Ripley is mixing youth with experience in the team, handing debuts to Charlie Thurston and Ben Curran and moving Ricardo Vasconcelos – who is still in his first season in English cricket – up the order.
Meanwhile Nathan Buck has been improving steadily, with three good overs against Birmingham Bears at the County Ground last Friday and an outstanding spell in Derby that gave his team the springboard into the run chase.
The Steelbacks will be wanting to prove a point, the Jets want to maintain their place at the top of the table. This is an intriguing game on many levels!
Tickets remain available by CLICKING HERE– book today (Thursday) to save cash compared to the standard match day prices!
And don’t forget you can win £1,000 just by coming to the ground and downloading the Northamptonshire app onto your iOS or Android tablet or phone!
Gates open at 4:30pm with play starting at 6:30pm.
Free car parking is available in Abington Park; this car park closes one hour after the close of play.
Food and drink outlets will be open throughout the evening.