Durham vs Northamptonshire T20 Blast Predictions - Northants on track for five wins on the trot

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 1 hour ago

Simon Lewis 1 hour ago

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Durham are slipping off the playoff spots after back-to-back defeats.
Northants are top of their table after four straight wins.
Match outcome likely influenced by squad rotations and team injuries.

Chris Lynn hit 115* against Warwickshire (Getty Images).

This cross-group clash between Northants (top of Central & West Group) and third-placed Durham in North Group is vital for Durham to get back to winning ways to avoid slipping out of the playoff stakes.

Durham’s David Bedingham has scores of 20, 41 & 24 in the T20 Blast.
Durham’s Ollie Robinson has scored 48, 19* & 36 in his 4 T20 Blast innings.
Durham’s Matthew Potts has figures of 3/28, 3/20 & 2/39 in his last 3 matches.
Northamptonshire’s Chris Lynn hit 5 sixes in his 59-ball 115* against Warwickshire.
Northamptonshire’s Nathan McSweeney scored 53 off 36 balls vs Gloucestershire.
Northamptonshire’s James Sales has figures of 3/28, 5/21 & 2/64 in his last 3 innings.

Head-to-Head

Northamptonshire have won two and lost three of their last five T20 Blast matches against Durham. The hosts won both of their matches against Northants last season.

Durham Form

Durham started the season with back-to-back wins but lost their next two matches by 58 runs (vs Yorkshire) and six wickets (vs Notts).

David Bedingham and Ollie Robinson have both made some good starts but have failed to push on so far this season, and they have had little support from the rest of their top order.

Matthew Potts has been in great form with the ball, picking up eight wickets in his last three matches, while Callum Parkinson has figures of 3/38, 2/31, 1/23 and 1/20 in his four matches this season.

Northamptonshire Form

After a thrilling three-run win in their opener against Glamorgan, Northants won their next three matches in convincing fashion by 100 runs, seven wickets and six wickets to move clear at the top of their group.

Chris Lynn (115* and 69) has starred with the bat, while Ricardo Vasconcelos (20, 35 and 27), Justin Broad (38 and 29) and Nathan McSweeney (27 and 53) have all offered Lynn support with the bat. David Willey has performed well with bat and ball, scoring 46, 18* and 23 and picking up 2/34 against Gloucestershire.

James Sales has been a key figure in Northants’ success this season, taking 10 wickets in his last three matches. Calvin Harrison has picked up 2/34 and 4/17 in his four matches.

Team news

Northants will be without Louis Kimber through a hamstring injury suffered in the win against Warwickshire, but skipper David Willey stressed that his side would not be relaxing despite being on a four-match winning run.

"It's about keeping our foot on the gas, not becoming complacent. That was a real issue we had last year and you lose momentum in the game and it bites you in the backside. We want to keep pushing forward and play our best cricket as the tournament goes on. What's great this year is that it's all in one block, and that will help us massively,” said Willey in a pre-match interview.

Willey paid tribute to Chris Lynn’s form with the bat after the opener smashed 115* off just 59 balls in the win over Warwickshire.

"Lynny did it to us on finals day last season so for him to come out and return the favour on Sunday was lovely to see. It's funny because when you're watching him bat and he's on your team, you can think this could look pretty ugly, and when you're running up and bowling at him, you think 'gosh, this could go for six anywhere between cover and fine leg'. He's really difficult to bowl at when he's on, and that's why we've got him. He's such a dangerous player and he wins games singlehandedly," added Willey.

Durham squad: Alex Lees (c), Ollie Robinson, Ben McKinney, Emilio Gay, Graham Clark, David Bedingham, Sam Conners, Nathan Sowter, David Hogg, Archie Bailey, Callum Parkinson, Mark Wood, Matthew Potts, Will Rhodes, Kasey Aldridge, Shafiqullah Ghafari, Ben Raine, George Drissell, Colin Ackermann, Ben Stokes Brydon Carse.

Northants squad: David Willey (c), George Bartlett, Justin Broad, Calvin Harrison, Chris Lynn, Lewis McManus, Nathan McSweeney, Luke Procter, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, George Scrimshaw, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Raphy Weatherall, Saif Zaib.