Jordan Thompson continues formidable form as Yorkshire crush Northants

Yorkshire Vikings' Jordan Thompson made a T20 career-best 74 to help his side go top of the North Group with an 82-run defeat of Northants Steelbacks at Emerald Headingley. The in-form all-rounder hit seven sixes in his 35-ball innings as stand-in skipper Adam Lyth's team posted a daunting 224 for 3.

That was more than sufficient to defeat the Steelbacks, who mustered just 142 with Dom Bess collecting his own career-best short-form figures of 3 for 17.

In truth things had looked promising for the home side from the opening overs of the game. Lyth made 25 before being bowled by Tom Taylor but Mark Stoneman maintained the momentum in his first innings for Yorkshire since agreeing a short-term loan move from Surrey. At the other end Thompson showed why he merited his promotion to No.3 by hitting Brandon Glover for a six over long-on and levying two more maximums off successive balls from Rob Keogh.

The pair brought up their 50 partnership off 26 balls and Stoneman reached his own half-century off 30 deliveries, ten of which he hit for four. He was then immediately leg before wicket to Mohammad Nabi for exactly 50.

That wicket did nothing to staunch the flow of runs, however. Thompson reached his own fifty off 27 balls and then hit three sixes in one Taylor over before giving the bowler the chance to take trifling revenge by catching the Yorkshire batsman at long-off when he hoisted a colossal skier off Glover.

That wicket ended Thompson's 53-run stand with Harry Brook but Brook and Gary Ballance hit two sixes apiece off Ben Sanderson's final over which yielded 27 runs as the pair put on an unbroken 58 in the final 4.3 overs of the innings.

Northamptonshire's pursuit of 225 was scuppered almost single-handedly by Bess, who ran out Adam Rossington for 24 with a direct hit from cover before having Ricardo Vasconcelos caught at cover by Lyth for 16 with his second ball.

Next over both Nabi and Parnell perished in the deep when trying to hit the England off-spinner for sixes and Saif Zaib was dismissed in similar fashion for four two overs later, Stoneman taking the catch off Thompson.

Ballance's direct hit from short fine leg ran out Charlie Thurston for four and the rest of Northamptonshire's batting crumbled to Fisher, who took two for 25. Keogh topscored for the Steelbacks with 36.