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Runaway T20 Blast North Group leaders Northamptonshire suffered their first defeat of the season in the competition as Lancashire narrowed the gap at the top on Friday night.

The table-topping Steelbacks were edged out by 15 runs at home to Durham with Kiwi all-rounder Jimmy Neesham hitting an unbeaten half-century for the visitors before picking up 3-29 with the ball.

James Anderson took three wickets as second-placed Lancashire thumped Worcestershire by seven wickets at New Road.

Birmingham Bears overcame Yorkshire by 32 runs at Headingley for their fourth successive win and seventh straight against the White Rose.

Samit Patel returned to haunt his former team Notts Outlaws, taking 3-14 as Derbyshire picked up their first win of the campaign with a 46-run victory at Trent Bridge.

South Group leaders Somerset made it five wins from five with a six-wicket derby victory at Gloucestershire to avenge last season’s defeat in the final, with Lewis Goldsworthy claiming a career-best 4-13 as the defending champions remained point-less.

Elsewhere, Middlesex snatched a last-ball tie against Hampshire in a rain-shortened six-over slog at Southampton, while Essex were denied the chance of a first Blast win of the summer as their clash at Sussex was abandoned.

North Group leaders Northants saw their perfect start ended by Durham as Neesham made an unbeaten 50 from 34 balls batting at seven against his former club, though his new side were restricted to a modest 157-8.

The Steelbacks were 96-3 in reply after 13 overs, with Matthew Breetzke making 41, but they added only 46 runs for the loss of five wickets from the final seven as third-placed Durham closed the gap on the leaders to 12 points with two games in hand.

Lancashire are eight points behind Northants in second after a convincing win at Worcestershire, having bowled the hosts out for 143.

Only Gareth Roderick (35 from 28 balls) resisted for long as the innings failed to recover from early damage inflicted by Anderson (3-32) and Luke Wood (3-34) with the Rapids slumping to 46-5 as early as the seventh over.

Lightning reeled in the target with 15 balls to spare, with Keaton Jennings making 42 while Liam Livingstone finished off the chase with 41 not out from 22 balls including four monster sixes.

At Headingley, all-rounder Ed Barnard’s 67 from 40 balls was the cornerstone of Bears‘ 205-8 before late fireworks from George Garton, Hasan Ali and Danny Briggs saw 76 added in the final five overs.

Garton dropped Yorkshire skipper Dawid Malan in the deep off Briggs on 29, but the spinner eventually got his man for 65 – and Malan’s fourth straight half-century was in vain as the home side lost for the fourth time in six games, posting 173-5.

Evergreen spinner Patel inspired Derbyshire Falcons to their first Blast victory at Trent Bridge since 2013 and consigned Notts to a third straight home defeat as they finished on 153-9 when chasing a target of 200.

In the South Group, Gloucestershire posted a disappointing 135-7 at Bristol, skipper Jack Taylor top-scoring with 43 not out from 29 balls and Goldsworthy taking three wickets in an over.

Will Smeed scored 51 not out as Somerset triumphed on 137-4 with 14 balls to spare to move six points ahead of nearest rivals Hampshire and Sussex.

Debutant Lhuan-dre Pretorius made 44 from 22 balls as Hampshire’s innings was restricted to six overs by the weather, closing at 63-1.

With a DLS target of 76 to win from six overs, Chris Wood sent down a maiden to start the Middlesex reply, but Max Holden clobbered 38 from 18 balls before Ben Geddes hit 10 from the final five deliveries, scampering a single to ensure a tie.

Essex’s hopes of claiming their first win were thwarted by the rain when they were well on top against Sussex at Hove.

In a game reduced to 17 overs per side, Jordan Cox hit four successive sixes off spinner Jack Carson in a 47-ball 82 in an imposing total of 177-4.

North Group

Derbyshire v Leicestershire (15:00 BST)

Bears v Nottinghamshire (19:00 BST)

South Group

Betfred Super League

Hull KR (36) 68

Tries: Davies, Batchelor 2, Sue 2, Tanginoa, Broadbent, Lewis 2, Booth, Whitbread, May Goals: Mourgue 10

Catalans Dragons (0) 6

Challenge Cup hero Tom Davies helped Hull KR continue their celebrations by opening the scoring in their 12-try Super League demolition of a Catalans Dragons side that had captain Benjamin Garcia red-carded in the first half.

Davies snatched a late winner to earn the Robins their first cup win for 45 years just six days earlier, but was quick to break the deadlock at a packed Craven Park that witnessed Catalans slump to a club record defeat.

James Batchelor and Sauaso Sue added to the score before Dragons were momentarily down to 11 men, with Garcia sent off just two minutes after Franck Maria was sin-binned.

A second Batchelor score and further tries from Kelepi Tanginoa, Jack Broadbent and Mikey Lewis put Hull KR 36-0 up at the break.

Catalans last scored a point 34 days ago when they faced Hull KR in the Challenge Cup semi-final, and the first of three consecutive shutout defeats after that in May cost Steve McNamara his job after almost eight years at the helm of the Perpignan club.

Their inability to grab an early score at Craven Park also meant they set an unwanted record for longest time between points in Super League history, passing the previous 259-minute wait Wakefield Trinity endured in 2023.

In stark contrast, since the Robins last faced the Dragons they have amassed 19 tries in four games and ended their long wait to lift the cup.

While the key trio of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Michael McIlorum and Joe Burgess were all ruled out injured after helping Hull KR to Wembley glory, the East Yorkshire side remained at their irrepressible best against a French side in wretched form.

Garcia being held up over the line in the 11th minute was the highlight of Catalans’ first half in Hull.

Davies, Batchelor and Sue’s tries that followed had the hosts cruising, but Catalans’ hopes of making it a contest after that were dashed by the sin-binning of Maria – for his illegal hit on Sue – before Garcia’s was shown a red card for swinging a punch at Elliot Minchella and Lewis.

An avalanche of tries followed before the interval, leading Catalans’ interim head coach Joel Tomkins to do some damage control at half-time.

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters told BBC Radio Humberside:

“It has been a special week. Obviously it is a quick turnaround, six days, so we didn’t know what to expect tonight.

“The week wasn’t normal. Obviously, celebrations and things like that is not something you would work your week around, but you had to because it is a moment we have been waiting for for a long time.

Catalans Dragons interim head coach Joel Tomkins told Sky Sports:

“It’s unbelievably embarrassing to be honest, for me, for the club and for the group of players especially. We are just not there at the minute.

“We are just going to have to get ourselves out of it, because no-one else is going to help us.

“Towards the back end of each half, I thought we looked like we gave up, if I’m honest. We are low on confidence and low on energy and we look like a few of our boys gave up a little bit at the end, which is a probably the ultimate disrespect to the jersey.

Hull KR: Mourgue; Davies, Hiku, Broadbent, Booth; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Hadley, Whitbread, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Tanginoa, Brown, Doro, Leyland.

Catalans: Aispuro-Bichet; Makinson, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric; Keary, Fages; Satae, Da Costa, Bousquet, Romano, Garcia, Partington.

Interchanges: Pangai Jnr, Sims, Sironen, Maria.

Red card: Garcia 27 mins.

Sin-bin: Maria 25 min.

More than half of Scotland women’s squad fear being left without a professional contract and having to hunt for work after this summer’s Rugby World Cup, a representative of the group has claimed.

A two-page statement sent to BBC Sport says only 15 members of the 38-player training squad are on year-long deals with Scottish Rugby.

That could mean a number of the 23 who have been put on short-term arrangements will be looking for new employment and experiencing off-field upheaval by October, it is claimed.

The source says that some players in the Rugby World Cup training camp are continuing to “suffer with their mental and emotional health following the potential loss of their contracts” as they prepare for the tournament, which is being hosted by England.

They added it was “not conducive” to “a positive performance environment within a squad”.

Scottish Rugby says it extended contracts to October to give players certainty for the event, which runs from 22 August to 27 September.

It also said discussions with senior female players “have been progressing well, whilst respecting the outcomes will affect every individual differently”.

The governing body added: “Scottish Rugby has committed to providing confirmation of what the high-performance programme will look like by the end of June, at which time the players will be advised of the next steps in the contracting process, with individual meetings scheduled, and contracts concluded, in July ahead of the Rugby World Cup.”

In 2022, Scottish Rugby announced that 28 players would be offered professional contracts.

It remains unclear how many players beyond the 15 already on 12-month contracts will be offered new deals.

Most of the Scotland training squad also have contracts with their club sides, the majority of which are PWR sides in England.

Although that league does pay its players, it is not a fully professional league and most players combine playing with jobs or education.

If some Scotland players are not offered contracts beyond October, the source claims they will be left “job hunting or doing interviews during pre-season and during the World Cup”.

A group of players are understood to have approached the Women’s Rugby Association (WRA) for advice. The WRA supported the Wales Women in 2024 following a long-running contract dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union.

When approached by the BBC, the WRA was unable to confirm its position on representing the Scotland Women.

The Scotland women do have some representation from the Rugby Players Scotland union, but a spokesperson confirmed that it only involves matters in the “collective interest” – for instance, agreeing a maternity policy for players. This does not currently include any individual contract negotiations.

Scottish Rugby said developing the women’s game, with elite home-grown players “eventually” representing Scottish clubs rather than moving elsewhere, was a key priority.

“Contracts currently under discussion are designed to support players’ development with their existing clubs, predominately in England, and allow the players to focus first and foremost on their rugby, as well as having more time for recovery and analysis,” it said.

“Going forward we are fully committed to growing the women’s game in Scotland and having a high-performance environment in place so that our best players can eventually represent professional teams here.

“This will involve a period of transition and change requiring some different contract options and decisions for players, as we look to evolve and develop the women’s high-performance programme for the years to come.”

The Murrayfield-based body added it recognised “uncertainty and change are part of any high-performance career” and said it was “committed to supporting our players so they can have access to a full suite of specialist support whether in, or out of, contract at all times”.