Match Details
Commentary
10:30 PM IST, 6 PM Local Time: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the T20 Blast game between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire. This is Mohammad Anab and I will be joined by my co-commentators Abhishek Sharma and Anirudh Modi. Our scorer/analyst for this fixture is Paras Yadav. Stay tuned for the toss.
Gloucestershire Probable XI: Miles Hammond, D'Arcy Short, Joe Phillips, Liam Scott, Jack Taylor (c), Kamran Dhariwal, James Bracey (wk), Graeme van Buuren, Daaryoush Ahmed, Marchant de Lange, Will Williams
Northamptonshire Steelbacks Probable XI: Ricardo Vasconcelos, Chris Lynn/ Louis Kimber, Nathan McSweeney, David Willey (c), Justin Broad, Saif Zaib, Calvin Harrison, Lewis McManus (wk), James Sales, Ben Sanderson, George Scrimshaw
Preview by Abhishek Sharma
The Central & West Group points table is heating up and what better occasion than a table clash between the table toppers. The 71st match of T20 Blast 2026 is between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire Steelbacks in Bristol on 1 July (Wednesday).
Both teams have already played once before in this season, where Northants got the better of Gloucs by a fair margin and registered a 7-wicket win. James Sales delivered his career-best spell of 4-0-21-5 and completely demolished the Gloucs batting line-up. Chasing a mere 165 runs, Chris Lynn and Nathan McSweeney came out all guns blazing to ensure that there were no hiccups in the chase.
Northants have been rampant throughout this season and are the only team to remain unbeaten till now in the entire tournament. Winning 7 out of 7 games, they are on a roll and everything seems to be falling in place for them. Captain David Willey is leading the team right from the front, having scored 236 runs with the bat and claiming 7 wickets as well.
But the star for them this season has been the young speedster James Sales, who has already claimed 17 wickets in 7 matches and is currently at the top of the wicket-takers chart. He has been fairly complemented by Calvin Harrison, the leggie, who has also been on the wickets column regularly with 12 wickets to his name at an impressive economy of 6.75.
Chris Lynn has done the job with the bat for them till now, having accumulated 320 runs at an average of 53.3. His opening partner, Ricardo Vasconcelos, looked in fine touch in the last outing and scored 44 runs with a strike rate of 209.5. Their middle-order lineup is not being tested much as of now, but Justin Broad has done a fine job whenever required along with Saif Zaib.
Chris Lynn is still part of the squad after gaining a hamstring tightness in the game against Essex and his position in the playing XI will be revealed at the toss. Louis Kimber is marking his return to the match-day squad.
Gloucestershire's 3-match winning streak was halted by Somerset in their last encounter. So they will be raring to bounce back. There were significant flaws in the batting department that were highlighted, namely the over reliance of the team on D’Arcy Short's performance as he remains the only batter from the side to score over 200-runs until now. Captain Jack Taylor has shown glimpses of his potential but still hasn’t been able to deliver a breakthrough innings as of now.
The problem also seems to be arising in the bowling department as well. With Duan Jansen leaving the team, he was bought as a temporary replacement for Liam Scott. Jansen was remarkable with the ball and scalped 16 wickets in 6 matches. Scott did pick up two wickets in the last match but proved to be expensive as well. So in the bowling unit, they would need their experienced campaigners such as Marchant De-Lange to step up and deliver for the team.
Head-to-head, it’s the barest of margins between these sides. With Gloucs winning 2 and Northants winning 2 out of the last 4 matches played. It’s anticipated to be a thriller of a match between these sides. Northants will be looking to make it 8 wins out of 8 while Jack Taylor and Co. will be raring to get their revenge in this reverse fixture and get back on the winning ways.
So, be ready and tighten your seatbelts for a thriller of a match between these two strong teams. Join us for the live coverage of the action at 10:30 PM IST, 6 PM Local Time.
The Central & West Group points table is heating up and what better occasion than a table clash between the table toppers. The 71st match of T20 Blast 2026 is between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire Steelbacks in Bristol on 1 July (Wednesday).
Both teams have already played once before in this season, where Northants got the better of Gloucs by a fair margin and registered a 7-wicket win. James Sales delivered his career-best spell of 4-0-21-5 and completely demolished the Gloucs batting line-up. Chasing a mere 165 runs, Chris Lynn and Nathan McSweeney came out all guns blazing to ensure that there were no hiccups in the chase.
Northants have been rampant throughout this season and are the only team to remain unbeaten till now in the entire tournament. Winning 7 out of 7 games, they are on a roll and everything seems to be falling in place for them. Captain David Willey is leading the team right from the front, having scored 236 runs with the bat and claiming 7 wickets as well.
But the star for them this season has been the young speedster James Sales, who has already claimed 17 wickets in 7 matches and is currently at the top of the wicket-takers chart. He has been fairly complemented by Calvin Harrison, the leggie, who has also been on the wickets column regularly with 12 wickets to his name at an impressive economy of 6.75.
Chris Lynn has done the job with the bat for them till now, having accumulated 320 runs at an average of 53.3. His opening partner, Ricardo Vasconcelos, looked in fine touch in the last outing and scored 44 runs with a strike rate of 209.5. Their middle-order lineup is not being tested much as of now, but Justin Broad has done a fine job whenever required along with Saif Zaib.
Chris Lynn is still part of the squad after gaining a hamstring tightness in the game against Essex and his position in the playing XI will be revealed at the toss. Louis Kimber is marking his return to the match-day squad.
Gloucestershire's 3-match winning streak was halted by Somerset in their last encounter. So they will be raring to bounce back. There were significant flaws in the batting department that were highlighted, namely the over reliance of the team on D’Arcy Short's performance as he remains the only batter from the side to score over 200-runs until now. Captain Jack Taylor has shown glimpses of his potential but still hasn’t been able to deliver a breakthrough innings as of now.
The problem also seems to be arising in the bowling department as well. With Duan Jansen leaving the team, he was bought as a temporary replacement for Liam Scott. Jansen was remarkable with the ball and scalped 16 wickets in 6 matches. Scott did pick up two wickets in the last match but proved to be expensive as well. So in the bowling unit, they would need their experienced campaigners such as Marchant De-Lange to step up and deliver for the team.
Head-to-head, it’s the barest of margins between these sides. With Gloucs winning 2 and Northants winning 2 out of the last 4 matches played. It’s anticipated to be a thriller of a match between these sides. Northants will be looking to make it 8 wins out of 8 while Jack Taylor and Co. will be raring to get their revenge in this reverse fixture and get back on the winning ways.
So, be ready and tighten your seatbelts for a thriller of a match between these two strong teams. Join us for the live coverage of the action at 10:30 PM IST, 6 PM Local Time.
Northamptonshire Steelbacks Squad: David Willey (c), George Bartlett, Justin Broad, Calvin Harrison, Louis Kimber, Chris Lynn, Lewis McManus (wk), Nathan McSweeney, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, George Scrimshaw, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Raphy Weatherall, Saif Zaib
Gloucestershire Squad: Jack Taylor (c), Daaryoush Ahmed, James Bracey (wk), Kamran Dhariwal, Miles Hammond, Marchant de Lange, Dawid Malan, Craig Miles, Joe Phillips, Matt Taylor, Liam Scott, D'Arcy Short, Ahmed Syed, Graeme van Buuren, Will Williams