So, that also brings an end to our coverage of this game. For now, this is me Hiren Kumar signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Anirudh Modi and scorer/analyst Raju Khariya. CHEERS!
1:56 AM lST and 9:26 PM Local Time: Northamptonshire win by 5 wickets. A victory to start off their campaign. They performed brilliantly with both bat and ball.
Opting to field first, the Northampton bowlers were a bit expensive inside the powerplay but picked up wickets at regular intervals. They were a bit expensive in the death as well. David Willey and George Scrimshaw were the pick of the bowlers and picked up 2 wickets each.
With the bat, the Derbyshire batters looked ordinary and could not build up partnerships. David Llyod was excellent at the top and played an impressive knock of 41 off just 22 balls. In the end, Alex Thomson and Zak Chappell played good cameos of 22* and 18* runs respectively.
Coming to the chase, the Northamptonshire batters were off to an excellent start. Ricardo Vasconcelos was brilliant at the top of the order and played an excellent knock of 42 runs. In the middle order, the experienced duo of Ravi Bopara and Sikandar Raza played socred 56* and 38 runs respectively and sealed the game for their team.
OVER 20
Northamptonshire
163/5
Ravi Bopara
56(42)
Lewis McManus
5(3)
Luis Reece
0-18(2.0)
19.6 L Reece to L McManus
1 FOUR! Northampton win by 5 wickets. Full and in the slot. McManus stands tall and smokes it straight down the ground for a boundary.
Ice in the veins from McManus! SCORES ARE LEVEL!
19.5 L Reece to L McManus
4 FOUR! Thats a good shot under pressure. Full and outside off, McManus shuffles across and sweeps it over short fine for a cracking boundary.
Incredible from Reece, stops it with his shin! 5 runs needed from 2 balls!
19.4 L Reece to R Bopara
1 High full toss, just outside off, Bopara hits it straight back to the bowler on his shoes. A single taken. 5 needed off 2 now.