Northamptonshire off the bottom

Northamptonshire 167 for 2 (Wakely 52*) beat Unicorns 163 for 8 (Daggett 4-39, Middlebrook 3-14) by eight wickets
Scorecard

Northamptonshire moved off the bottom of Group C in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over the Unicorns at Wormsley.

Having restricted the home side to 163 for 8 from their 34 overs, the game having been delayed by the weather, the visitors wasted little time in marching to victory with 46 balls to spare as Alex Wakely top scored with an unbeaten 52.

Having elected to bat the Unicorns made a solid start thanks mainly to some strong hitting from opener Bradley Wadlan, who struck 41 off just 40 balls in an opening stand of 63 with Vishal Tripathi.

But once Wadlan was removed lbw by James Middlebrook the innings began to come apart, with only James Ord (38) making a strong contribution in the middle order as Lee Daggett (four for 39) and Middlebrook (3 for 14) did the damage with the ball.

In reply, Northamptonshire suffered an early blow as Kyle Coetzer (16) was bowled by Glen Querl with the score on 29.

But Rob Newton (45) and Wakely kept the scoreboard ticking over at a handy rate, and even though Newton was bowled by Wadlan, David Sales came to the crease to smash 47 off 40 balls to bring the game to a rapid conclusion.