Natwest T20 Blast 2016: Josh Cobb powers Northamptonshire to the title victory

Josh Cobb has played one of the brilliant innings of his career to power Northamptonshire to their second limited-overs trophy since 1992 with victory in the final of the NatWest Blast 2016.

He played an absolute gem of an innings after his side was reeling at 9 for 3. Cobb’s partnership with the skipper Alex Wakely is what brought the side back into the contest as the duo added 120 runs for the 4th wicket. From 9/3 to 129/4, the duo had turned the match upside down as Durham found themselves struggling to keep the match in control.

But the wicket came in a bit late as Northamptonshire just needed 25 runs from 31 balls by then and they chased it down with 4 wickets in hand and 5 balls remaining.

The Durham innings was completely built on the career best performance from their opening batsman, Keaton Jennings. The composed innings gave them the fighting total of 153 – with nobody else in the side scoring 20 or more. He clobbered 4 sixes and 5 fours in the well-crafted innings of 88, which was the highest individual score made in the history of T20 Finals Day.

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Ben Sanderson was the pick of the bowlers for Northamptonshire, as he bagged 3 wickets for 31 runs. The entire bowling unit was impressive until Jennings unleashed himself to drove Graeme White’s left-arm spin and the seam of Steven Crook and Klenveldt over the ropes.

However, Alex Wakely played his second crucial knock of the day giving the ideal support for Cobb as the duo played sensibly giving respect to good deliveries as Mark Wood and Chris Rushworth started off well with the ball. Wakely and Cobb attacked all other bowlers, and by the time Wood returned into the attack in the 12th over, they were seeing the ball clearly.

Brief Scores:

Durham – 153 for 8 (Keaton Jennings 88, Ben Sanderson 3-31)

Northamptonshire – 155 for 6 (Josh Cobb 80, Alex Wakely 43)

Northamptonshire won by 4 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)

Player of the match – Josh Cobb (Northamptonshire)