Nathan McSweeney leads Northants to another win over Hain’s side


Northamptonshire kept their winning run going, with Nathan McSweeney coming out on top in a head-to-head against Sam Hain. McSweeney stars McSweeney played the key innings for Northants, outplaying Hain and helping his side secure another win. Hain can’t stop Northants Despite Hain’s effort, he was unable to prevent Northants from extending their good form. Northants’ formThe result keeps that "winning feeling" alive at Northants. They continue to pick up momentum in the competition. Chasing 312 to win, McSweeney shared a fourth-wicket stand of 121 with George Bartlett who made a superb 72, his highest List A score for Northamptonshire. Meanwhile Ricardo Vasconcelos picked up where he left off in the Vitality Blast Final on Saturday with 64. Taz Ali took two for 52. For Warwickshire, Sam Hain struck an excellent, well-timed 80 and combined in a 104-run partnership with Theo Wylie (65), who made his highest List A score. They came together after Rob Yates got the innings off to a flyer with an aggressive 39. Weatherall’s breakthrough spell Raphy Weatherall took 4 for 56 to break Warwickshire’s momentum. He dismissed key batters including Yates and Wylie. Yuzvendra Chahal and Liam Guthrie chipped in with 2 wickets each. Guthrie struck early, getting Vansh Jani to edge behind with movement. Warwickshire batters start well but fade Yates hit 7 boundaries but fell upper-cutting Weatherall to deep cover. Hain looked aggressive with a boundary through midwicket and a big six over long-on. Wylie accelerated too, driving through covers and down the ground. He was dropped on 48 by Chahal at caught-and-bowled, but eventually cut Weatherall hard to point where Aadi Sharma took a sharp catch. The regular wickets meant Warwickshire couldn’t post the big total that had looked likely earlier. Kai Smith (28) attacked the seamers and scooped Weatherall but went to repeat the shot and edged behind, the first of three wickets in nine balls. George Garton swung Chahal out to deep midwicket, where Vasconcelos took an excellent running catch, and Weatherall jagged one back to trap Hain lbw. While Ethan Bamber skied Procter to mid-on and Jake Garlick was castled by Guthrie, Ali finished with a flourish down the ground. Oliver Hannon-Dalby soon trapped Gus Miller lbw, but Rob Keogh (37) drove Bamber and Hannon-Dalby straight for three boundaries. He was brilliantly caught by Smith on the square-leg boundary, who threw the ball up before stepping back inside the rope. Bartlett’s attacking knock Bartlett hit Yates over mid-off, drove him down the ground, and cut Wylie through square-leg. He brought up the Steelbacks’ 200 with a sweep off Wylie, then smashed Garlick over long-on for six. With 73 needed off the last 10 overs, McSweeney hit Ali back over his head but then chipped a tame return catch. He responded with a big six over midwicket off Garlick and pulled Hannon-Dalby for another maximum. But he fell top-edging a sweep off Ali to deep midwicket, leaving Steelbacks needing 25 more.Aadi Sharma and Lewis McManus then came together and saw the Steelbacks home. Northamptonshire (McSweeney 88, Bartlett 72, Vasconcelos 64) beat Warwickshire 312 for 9 (Hain 80, Wylie 65, Weatherall 4-56) by five wickets