David Willey Stars as Northamptonshire Seal T20 Semi-Final Spot

Captain David Willey hits an unbeaten 47 to guide Northants to a dominant victory.

Northants see off Gloucestershire

The atmosphere was electric at Wantage Road as Northants prepared to host Gloucestershire in this potentially pivotal T20 quarter-final. Both sets of fans turned up in numbers hoping to witness their respective sides progress in the T20 Blast competition.

A tightly fought match was always on the cards given the history of these two fierce rivals, and it certainly delivered in spades. Northamptonshire got their act together from the off and scored an emphatic victory in the process; a warning to the other T20 hopefuls who fancy their chances in the T20 Blast.

Sanderson strikes early in the powerplay

A good start is imperative in this format, and Northants off-spinner Ben Sanderson was well aware of the importance of picking up early wickets.

He sent down a miserly opening over and soon had opener Dawid Malan caught behind the bat at first slip, a poor shot from the England international. Sanderson then struck again in his next over, removing Graeme van Buuren.

Sanderson was too accurate for the struggling Gloucestershire openers and eventually finished with four wickets for just twenty runs. The impressive debutant soon found himself at the other end taking further revenge on the dangerous Dawid Malan.

Charlesworth plays a lone hand

While the rest of his batting partners were struggling to score any runs, Ben Charlesworth chose to take on the bowling attack. He battled hard against the quick bowlers on the fast, dry pitch and played some stunning drives through extra cover.

He launched a brilliant six over the fence off George Scrimshaw and then sent the stand-in captain Malan back to the pavilion with another maximum. Charlesworth played a fantastic attacking innings, eventually falling for a well-deserved career-best T20 score of 68 from 38 balls.

Middle order fold

Charlesworth may have thought he had done enough to help his cause, but unfortunately for him, he was playing a solitary innings. The rest of his batting partners failed to capitalise on his wonderful start.

There was a brief respite from the Northants attack when young Jack Taylor came to the crease, but it didn’t last for long. A stunning piece of fielding from the in-form James Bracey saw one of the best run-outs you are likely to see for a while.

A further collapse followed as the excellent leg-spinner Calvin Harrison trapped the next two Gloucestershire batsmen in front. The pressure eventually told as all the remaining Gloucestershire tailenders were removed at regular intervals.

Captain Willey anchors the chase

Chases can often be a test of a team’s character, especially if early wickets have fallen. The Steelbacks needed someone to steady the ship when Ricardo Vasconcelos and Chris Lynn were both removed by early Gloucestershire bowling. Enter in-form captain David Willey and his wonderful anchorman skills.

Willey and his opening partner Nathan McSweeney soon found themselves in a comfortable position. They took plenty of singles and doubles to keep the strike rotating, all the while making sure they didn’t lose any more vital wickets.

Clinical batting sees off visitors

Willey eventually came to the end of his innings with still plenty of overs to go. He accelerated the scoring at the death to see off the visitors with more than two overs to spare.

Willey played a composed, controlled, and ultimately special innings. He made sure to keep the strike going and rotated the strike well. He showed fantastic awareness at all times and didn’t try to do anything stupid at any point.

He made the game well and interesting, picking up some lovely boundaries at key moments. Northamptonshire made sure to play it safe, but also made the most of the situation.

They were well within their rights to try and accelerate the scoring at all times, but instead played it steady; a very professional display from the Steelbacks. Gloucestershire will be left to ponder what might have been, but Northamptonshire can now look forward to a Finals Day appearance. Their wonderful displays in this T20 Blast certainly make them a team to be reckoned with in the final stages of this competition.