Out-of-sorts Steelbacks beaten for the first time as Gloucestershire dominate at the County Ground

Northants went into the game on the back of a four-match winning streak, but they were very much second best throughout as the visitors moved level on points with David Ripley's side at the top of the Central Group.

Gloucestershire produced a powerful batting display to total 185 for six, with Chris Dent making a classy 50 from 27 balls and Ian Cockbain 40 from 24, and that proved too many for the Steelbacks.

Openers Paul Stirling (32) and Richard Levi (20) put on 50 in the first five overs, but the introduction of the spin of Graeme van Buuren, who finished with three for 15 from four overs, and Tom Smith tied the County up in knots.

They lost the openers and also skipper Josh Cobb for a second ball duck as they slumped to 58 for three, and they simply never recovered.

The Steelbacks closed on 150 for six and now must hope they can rediscover their winning habit when they travel to Cardiff to take on Glamorgan on Sunday.

Northants went into the game off the back of a troubling week at the club that saw one squad member test positive for Covid-19, resulting in the abandonment of their Bob Willis Trophy match, also against Gloucestershire, abandoned after just two hours play.

Three other players who had been in close contact with the infected player were in the squad at Bristol, so the match was called off 'in the interests of player welfare'.

There were doubts about whether or not the Steelbacks would be able to resume their Blast campaign, but the rest of the Northants squad were tested, their results came back negative, and this game got the go-ahead, although the County were without four players who were self-isolating.

Northants were missing two players who had started their previous four matches, Brandon Glover and Saif Zaib, while Blessing Muzarabani was also left out of the squad.

It meant head coach David Ripley made three changes to the team that beat Glamorgan in the final over last Thursday, with Adam Rossington, Tom Sole and Luke Procter coming in for Ricardo Vasconcelos, Glover and Zaib.

The Steelbacks made the perfect start as Miles Hammond sent the fourth ball of Cobb's first over straight down the throat of Sole on the mid-wicket boundary, and Gloucestershore were nought for one.

But it was to prove a false dawn, as Dent and Cockbain then set about the Steelbacks attack with vigour.

The pair put on 59 runs in the final four overs of the powerplay, striking the ball cleanly and to all parts of the ground, with one Ben Sanderson over going for 23!

Gareth Berg was another bowler they took a liking to, with his two overs going for 27, and they powered their team to 90 for one in the ninth over before Dent played a rare loose shot and swept a full delivery from Graeme White to Sanderson on the mid-wicket boundary, and he snaffled the chance.

It was a wicket the Steelbacks desperately needed.

in the next over it got even better as Northants struck again, with Procter claiming the crucial wicket of Cockbain, who tried to pull a short delivery for six but instead hit the ball straight to Sole on the mid-wicket boundary and he was gone for 40 from 24 balls.

That left Gloucestershire on 97 for three a little short of the halfway point, but the wickets had given the Steelbacks the chance to rein the visitors in a bit, and they did just that while picking up a few wickets along the way, and going into the final four overs they were 144 for five.

George Scott tried to up the tempo with a 17-ball cameo for his 21, and the visitors kept picking up fours along the way as they set the Steelbacks a testing target of 186 to win as they closed on 185 for six.

Left-arm spinner White was again the pick of the Northants attack as he finished with four 28 from his four overs, while Procter claimed one for 17 from three and Cobb one for 21 from his three.

It was not a great day for the trio of seamers Sanderson, Buck and Berg, whose combined bowling figures read 10-0-119-1, Sanderson ending with none for 49 from his four.

The Steelbacks openers got off to a stuttering start, with both Stirling and Levi struggling to find the middle of the bat, but they still raced to 50 without loss after five overs.

The sixth over, bowled by spinner van Buuren, was a shocker for the Steelbacks, as they lost Stirling, stumped for 32 from 20 balls, and Cobb, bowled for a second ball duck, to leave them 51 for two at the end of the six-over powerplay.

The left-arm spin also accounted for Levi, who was stumped, and with the score on 58 for three the Steelbacks were in trouble.

Rossington and Alex Wakely set about trying to rebuild the innings, but it was slow going against the slow bowling of van Buuren and Smith.

From the sixth over, the pair bowled seven overs between them and conceded just 31 runs, with van Buuren claiming those three wickets as well.

Northants were falling further and further behind the run-rate, and when Wakely picked out the fielder on the boundary off the bowling of Smith, they were 92 for four and almost out for the count.

Rossington tried to get things going, but was out for 29 from 32 balls going for one of the many big hits needed and going into the final three overs, Northants were 117 for six, still needing 69 to win.

Procter (20no) and White (20no) had a bit of fun and rattled off a few runs, but it was never going to be enough, and the Steelbacks were left to lick their wounds after a chastening afternoon.