Bad day for the stuttering Steelbacks as they suffer seven-wicket beating at the hands of Glamorgan

Northants failed to even bat out their overs on a slow and sticky surface as they were rushed out for just 98, and the home side then coasted to a seven-wicket victory with 24 balls to spare.

The defeat is a blow to the Steelbacks' hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals, and they have now lost two successive games having previously won four on the spin.

They remain second in the Central Group table on run-rate from the Birmingham Bears, but there wasn't much else to put a smile on the face of head coach David Ripley on his 54th birthday.

The batsmen all struggled on a slow pitch as the Steelbacks recorded their sixth lowest T20 total, Tom Sole top-scoring with 25, before the bowlers were put to the sword as Glamorgan claimed a win that breathes life into their own last eight qualification hopes.

This was a bad day as not only were Northants thrashed, their run-rate also took a hit, and the Steelbacks will see Tuesday night's final home game against Worcestershire Rapids as a must-win match to get a faltering campaign back on track.

The Steelbacks were unchanged from the team that lost to Gloucestershire on Friday afternoon, with Josh Cobb winning the toss and electing to bat and set a target.

The batting line-up has failed to fire in the past few matches, but the team has always been given a good start by openers Richard Levi and Paul Stirling - but not this time.

Both men were out with the match just seven balls old, Levi being pinned lbw in the first over by left-arm spinner Prem Sisodiya, and Stirling stumped off off-spinner Andrew Salter's first ball.

That left the Steelbacks in trouble at eight for two, with Cobb and Adam Rossington handed the task of rebuilding the innings.

Cobb has endured a difficult campaign with the bat, and his troubles continued here as he was out for 11, top edging an attempted pull off seamer Timm van der Gugten straight up in the air and it was an easy catch for wicket-keeper Chris Cooke.

The Steelbacks were 24 for three in the fifth over and up against it.

It was possibly time to reassess how they were going to play, but the Steelbacks players continued trying to hit some big shots, and things soon got even worse.

Luke Procter was a surprise choice to come in ahead of Alex Wakely, and he started brightly, but then unluckily played on to seamer Rory Smith and was bowled for five.

That brought Wakely to the crease, with the Steelbacks ending the powerplay in trouble at 33 for four.

That became 39 for five as Rossington, who was looking in good nick, was out for 14, edging behind as he tried to pull a van der Gugten short ball.

Wakely and Tom Sole put on 31 at a run a ball to take the Steelbacks to 70, but their partnership came to an end when Wakely popped a return catch to Sisodiya, via his pad, and was out for nine.

Graeme White came in and made an instant impact as he hit two fours off Sisodiya, but was then stumped off the final ball of the left-arm spinner's over.

Northants were in dire straits at 80 for seven and in serious danger of being bowled out.

Gareth Berg came and went quickly, slapping a short ball from van der Gugten straight to point, and the Steelbacks were 92 for eight

It wasn't long before Sole's battling innings came to an end, miss-hitting a delivery from Scotland team-mate Rory Smith straight to mid-on to go for 25.

That meant Northants were 98 for nine, and a few balls later they were put out of their batting misery when Nathan Buck was caught in the deep.

The County had been bowled out for just 98 in 17.2 overs which was a dismal effort, leaving the bowlers with very little to play with.

Glamorgan opener David Lloyd decided to take the innings by the scruff of the neck, and he took a real liking to Steelbacks seamers Ben Sanderson and Buck, whose 12 balls in the powerplay went for 30 runs.

The spinners were keeping things tight, but that flying start meant Glamorgan could relax and when Lloyd was out for 40 from just 29 balls, chipping a simple back a simple caught and bowled to Cobb, they were almost home and dry at 68 for one.

There was deserved reward for White who had opener Nick Selman smartly stumped by Rossington to make it 70 for two, but it was only going to be a matter of time before they claimed the win.

The home side also lost skipper Chris Cooke, but eventually got home at 99 for three off the final ball of the 16th over.

With the ball, Cobb claimed one for 17 from his four overs and White one for 22 from his four, but Sanderson and Buck's four overs went for 39 as they struggled.