T20 Blast: Anderson helps Lancs close on Northants

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