Salt and Buttler Blaze as Lancashire Leapfrog Northants in T20 Blast Thriller

Phil Salt and Jos Buttler produced a masterclass in aggressive T20 batting as Lancashire Lightning overpowered Northamptonshire Steelbacks by five wickets in a high-octane clash at Wantage Road. The win propelled Lancashire to the top of the Vitality Blast North Group table, overtaking the Steelbacks in the process.

Salt top-scored with a blistering 80 off 57 balls, while Buttler marked his return to the Blast after two years with a fluent 54 from 42 deliveries. Their 123-run partnership laid the foundation for the successful chase of 178, achieved with three balls to spare despite a late wobble.

The run chase briefly paused after just one over when umpires Simon Widdup and Rob Bailey inspected Salt’s bat and ordered a replacement. Unfazed, the England opener went on to dominate the innings, shrugging off the disruption with a flurry of boundaries and towering sixes.

Buttler, showing no signs of rust, launched David Willey and Justin Broad for straight sixes and played spin with finesse through the middle overs. Both players reached their fifties within one delivery of each other, Buttler doing so off 36 balls and Salt off 37.

The Steelbacks clawed back into the contest late on when Buttler was bowled attempting a reverse sweep against Lloyd Pope and Salt holed out off Ben Sanderson. George Scrimshaw then dismissed Chris Green and Matthew Hurst in the penultimate over to set up a nervy finish.

Needing 11 from the final over, Luke Wells held his nerve, smashing Luke Procter for back-to-back sixes to seal a crucial victory.

Earlier, fast bowler Saqib Mahmood grabbed headlines with a sensational hat-trick — only the second ever by a Lancashire bowler in Blast history. His 4 for 49 included the final three wickets of the Northamptonshire innings, all in consecutive deliveries: two searing yorkers to dismiss Ben Sanderson and Lloyd Pope, followed by George Scrimshaw caught in the deep.

Northamptonshire had opted to bat and were jolted early when veteran James Anderson knocked over debutant Tim Robinson’s off stump in his first over. Anderson also accounted for Willey as the hosts slumped to 2 for 2.

Ravi Bopara (32 off 25) and Justin Broad (30 off 18) revived the innings with a brisk stand, but both fell in quick succession, and it was left to Lewis McManus (30 off 24) and Saif Zaib (32 off 19) to push the total towards respectability. Their 54-run partnership gave the Steelbacks late momentum, but Mahmood’s hat-trick halted the surge.

Despite the late scare, Lancashire’s dominant top-order display proved decisive in chasing down the target and extending the Steelbacks' losing streak to three matches.

Score Summary:

Northamptonshire: 177 all out (McManus 30, Zaib 32; Mahmood 4-49, Anderson 2-24)
Lancashire: 181/5 in 19.3 overs (Salt 80, Buttler 54; Scrimshaw 2-32, Sanderson 1-28)
Result: Lancashire won by 5 wickets