Scrimshaw holds his nerve at the death as Steelbacks open Blast campaign with thrilling win

Darren Lehmann's side got their Central & West Group campaign off to the winning start he had demanded, but it was a close-run thing in front of a big crowd at Wantage Road.

Needing 10 to win off the final over bowled by George Scrimshaw in their pursuit of Northants’ 165 for eight, the excellent Dan Douthwaite was unable to see his side home, with Glamorgan managing just six runs as the Steelbacks edged home off the final ball.

Douthwaite produced the outstanding innings of the night, hammering five sixes and one four in his 51 not out from just 31 balls, but it wasn't quite enough as Scrimshaw was able to hold his nerve and see Northants home, with a top-edged four the only boundary conceded in the final over.

Earlier, on what seemed a tricky surface for most batters, Justin Broad top-scored with 38 from 25 balls as the Steelbacks made what proved to be a competitive total in their 20 overs, with Nathan McSweeney the next best with 27 from 26.

All the bowlers then did their bit, with James Sales particularly impressive as he finished with one for 23 from his four overs.

There were also wickets for leg-spinner Calvin Harrison (2-34) and Scrimshaw (3-33) as Northants got their 2026 Blast campaign up and running.

The Steelbacks received a boost before the start when they were able to include Sales in their starting line-up after he was released from England Lions duty.

After being put in, Northants started pretty well, with Ricardo Vasconcelos producing a string of glorious cover drives to get the scoreboard moving.

At the other end, Chris Lynn was struggling to find any sort of rhythm and it was no surprise when he was dismissed in the fourth over, weakly chipping left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi to Kiran Carlson at mid-off to leave the home side 32 for one.

That was soon 33 for two when Vasconcelos inexplicably chased a long hop from Farooqi that would have been called a wide, and guided the ball straight into the hands of Tim van der Gugten at short third man to be dismissed for 20 from 11 balls. He had been looking so good.

That left a bit of a rebuilding mission for McSweeney and skipper David Willey, and they saw the Steelbacks to 45 for two at the end of the six-over powerplay.

It was proving to slow going as Glamorgan turned the screw, and Willey perished in the eighth over, slicing a big drive off Douthwaite to Ned Leonard at deep extra cover and he took an excellent catch diving forwards to leave Northants in trouble at 54 for three.

McSweeney was in good touch and hit the first six of the match in the 10th over, but just as it looked like the home side may gain some momentum Louis Kimber, who had not looked comfortable, was run out going for a second following a McSweeney clip through mid-wicket and Steelbacks were 69 for four.

As good as McSweeney had looked, he then went to the first ball of the 12th, chipping Douthwaite to mid-off to go for 27 from 25 balls to leave Northants 79 for five and in more than a bit of bother.

The batters kept on coming for the Steelbacks though, and although Broad and Harrison tried to get things moving at a pace for the Steelbacks, the Glamorgan bowlers kept them in check forcing Harrison to go for a big hit off Farooqi and he was caught on the boundary for 20, reducing Northants to 118 for six.

The Steelbacks needed a big finish to set a competitive score and Lewis McManus hammered a couple of sixes to take them to 143 for six before he was caught in the deep after hitting 14 from just five balls.

Broad carried on from where he left off on Finals Day back in September, and he had moved to 38 from 24 balls when he was undone by a Farooqi slower ball to be caught a deep mid-on and Steelbacks were 154 for eight with seven balls remaining.

A couple of crucial boundaries from Sales and Ben Sanderson lifted that score to 165 for eight, which looked a testing total.

Northants got an early breakthrough when Sales caught a steepling catch – the ball dropping over his shoulder from a great height - to dismiss the dangerous Kiran Carlson for 12 off the bowling of Sanderson and Glamorgan were 14 for one in the second over.

It was 25 for two in the third when Colin Ingram edged Willey behind and the Steelbacks were in the game, although the Welshmen had doubled that score without suffering any more damage at the close of the six-over powerplay.

Ben Kellaway and Will Smale were looking comfortable, but in the eighth over the former reverse hit leg-spinner Harrison straight down the throat of Vasconcelos at point to go for 20 and leave his side 65 for three.

Glamorgan were still well ahead of the run-rate though, with wickets were the order of the day for the Steelbacks.

So it was a huge boost in the ninth when Sales struck – pinning Sean Dickson lbw for just seven and the visitors were 72 for four.

That became 77 for five a few balls later as Harrison trapped Smale in front, the opener departing for 24 from 24 balls.

It needed a rebuild, but it didn’t come as off the first ball of the 13th over Chris Cooke picked out Kimber on the deep square-leg boundary off the bowling of Scrimshaw, and at 92 for six, the visitors were right on the back foot.

Scrimshaw was generating good pace and Glamorgan were were 94 for seven three balls later when Timm van der Gugten edged a wide one behind to McManus.

A counter-attack was needed, and it came from Douthwaite who hammered two huge sixes in the 15th over bowled by Scrimshaw to keep his team in the hunt as they went into the final five overs needing 48 to win.

Northants always seemed to have the edge, but Douthwaite kept his team in it with timely big hits, and when he smashed the final ball of the 19th over bowled by Sanderson for six, the equation was down to 10 runs from six balls.

Scrimshaw had Mason Crane caught behind off the first ball before bye to the wicket-keeper brought Douthwaite on strike, and he was left with the task of hitting nine runs off four balls to win it for his side.

But thankfully for Northants, he couldnt manage it.

Teams

Steelbacks: Ricardo Vasconcelos, Chris Lynn, Nathan McSweeney, David Willey (c), Louis Kimber, Justin Broad, Calvin Harrison, Lewis McManus, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, George Scrimshaw

Glamorgan: Will Smale, Kiran Carlson (c), Ben Kellaway, Colin Ingram, Sean Dickson, Chris Cooke, Dan Douthwaite, Timm van der Gugten, Mason Crane, Ned Leonard, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Toss won by Glamorgan