Cobb tells Steelbacks they simply have to 'turn up' for Blast 'cup final' against Birmingham Bears

Northants slumped to their fourth Vitality T20 Blast Central Group defeat in a row on Friday evening, going down by seven wickets to Somerset at Taunton.

The result saw the west country side jump above the Steelbacks on run-rate, and there was even worse to follow as Birmingham Bears later won their home clash with Worcestershire Rapids.

That means Northants have dropped to fourth in the table going into the final round of games.

They are level on nine points with third-placed Somerset, but now two adrift of the Bears who are in second place.

It is an astonishing collapse from a team that, at the halfway stage of the 10-match group, sat two points clear at the top following four straight wins.

All is not yet lost, but Cobb and his players now have to beat the Bears in their final group game at Edgbaston on Sunday to stand any chance of reaching the last eight.

A win over their hosts would see them go back above them on run-rate.

That might be enough to see the Steelbacks into second place an automatic qualification, but for that to happen they would also need Somerset to lose to Gloucestershire.

If the Steelbacks win and Somerset also win, then the best David Ripley's men can hope for is third place, and it would then be down to what happens in the other groups to determine whether or not they are one of the two best third-placed teams.

It's a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but the absolute bottom line is that the Steelbacks have to win on Sunday to have any chance of progressing at all.

"Obviously the spirit in the camp has taken a bit of knock with four defeats, but we have to put all that behind us and turn up for what is now a cup final for us against Birmingham Bears on Sunday," said Cobb.

"We need to bring our best performance to that match, and if we do hopefully a win will see us reach the quarter-finals."

Even a win may not be enough though, as the Steelbacks would probably need other results to go their way, and Cobb was left to rue another match that got away at Taunton.

Following on from losses to Gloucestershire, Glamorgan and Worcestershire, Northants desperately needed to beat Somerset, but were always up against it after they totalled just 140 for nine in their 20 overs.

Cobb top scored with 49 and Paul Stirling hit 25, but the Steelbacks slumped badly after being 73 for one in the 10th over.

"Tonight we simply didn't get enough runs," said the skipper.

"We decided early on that 160 would be decent score on what was a used pitch, but to fall away in the last 10 overs and scramble to only 140 was very disappointing."

There was also an injury for Northants, with Alex Wakely unable to field in Somerset's innings.

"Alex hit a ball into his achiilles tendon while batting and couldn't field," said Cobb. "We will have to assess him ahead of Sunday."

Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory heaped praise on his team for their performance against the Steelbacks, and in particular the bowlers.

"It was the best T20 bowling display by the team I have been involved in this season," he said.

"I thought we showed really good control with the ball and some smart thinking depending on which batsman was facing.

"In the second half of the game we were really clinical. Steve Davies struck the ball sweetly from the start, Tom Abell showed a cool head and Tom Lammonby finished things off with some big shots."