Wakely: No doom and gloom at Northants after back-to-back defeats

The Steelbacks shipped a gargantuan 219 runs for the second time in three days as Notts Outlaws won by 58 runs at the County Ground.

That compounded the misery of the four-wicket defeat to Leicestershire Foxes on Wednesday.

But skipper Wakely, who saw his side skittled out for 161 by the Outlaws, is determined to remain upbeat ahead of Sunday's trip to Lancashire Lightning.

"I was pretty proud of the response because in the last game we were a bit of a shambles to be honest," Wakely said. "In the field, we were pretty appalling, we didn't have any plans with the ball and it was a bit chaotic.

"But we came out today and we were on the ball, we started really well, we got early wickets, we put them under pressure and then one bloke (Dan Christian, who hit an unbeaten 113 from 40 balls) came out and played a pretty special knock.

"We had plans in place, the right bowlers were bowling but he just kept hitting it to all parts and unfortunately that's the nature of T20 cricket.

"You're not going to see many knocks like that in the competition.

"In T20 cricket, one guy with the ball, the bat or even in the field can take the game away from you - and that happened tonight.

"Fair play to Dan, that was a special knock but it's a bit of a familiar story for us. We always get off to bad starts and then have to claw it back.

"We don't quite have the experience we've had in the past with the ball so we've got a lot of guys learning new skills, new roles, but I think they'll grow into them during the competition.

"It's not all doom and gloom. We just need to feel a bit more positive about this game than the last one.

"Losing is obviously frustrating, but I think we're going in the right direction.

"T20 is all about momentum and we need that now. If you win one or two, you're away.

"And what Northants are good at is bouncing back."