'Strange game' leaves Rapids top scorer Roderick wondering what might have been

The Steelbacks got over the line with six wickets and 12 balls to spare at the cinch County Ground, but Roderick felt it was 'a strange game' and that his team were in the hunt for the win for long periods.

They were eventually undone by a bludgeoning 47 from 33 balls from skipper David Willey, who was able to bide his time before going on the attack thanks to a scintillating powerplay from Chris Lynn (37 from 18 balls) and Nathan McSweeney (26 from 15) had seen Northants rack up 71 for one in the opening five overs.

Roderick, who top scored for Rapids with a well-made 47, was left frustrated that the 40-minute rain delay that saw the match reduced to 18 overs a side came 13 overs into the Rapids' innings, and he accepted his side were probably 20 runs short of where they needed to be.

“It was quite a strange game in truth, and I felt it ebbed and flowed quite a bit," said Roderick.

"We had quite a slow start in the powerplay and then managed to catch it up a little bit, but then the rain intervened.

“It is always difficult when the rain comes in, but ultimately we short on the board as it was quite a good pitch.

“You never really know in those situations (when the rain reduces the game mid-innings) because you don’t face them too often, but on reflection maybe another 20-runs may have put us in a better position, but that's the game.

"They then get off to a flyer, which obviously Chris Lynn can do.

“I thought we did a really good job to drag it back in the middle with our spinners, who have been excellent for us all year.

"They pulled us back into the game, but then David Willey put a few away at the end there which has taken it away from us.

“On the scoreboard it looks like quite a wide margin, but it certainly didn’t feel like that when we were out there, I thought we were in that game for a decent period, especially in that second half.”