'What an advert for the game' - Steelbacks bowler Sanderson reacts to tie

Leicestershire’s Rishi Patel maintained his rich vein of form in this year’s Vitality Blast, savaging the Steelbacks bowlers for an outstanding 104 from 45 balls at the County Ground.

Patel, the Blast’s leading run-scorer this season, equalled the Foxes’ fastest ever T20 century – set by Ben Raine against Birmingham six years ago – as he reached the landmark in just 41 deliveries.

The 25-year-old opener upstaged Steelbacks skipper David Willey, who marked his 300th career T20 game by top-scoring with 71 from 48 – and passing 4,000 runs in the format – as the home side posted 208 for five.

Northamptonshire struggled in the face of Patel’s onslaught, but rookie seamer Raphy Weatherall pegged the Foxes back with four for 50 before Lewis Goldsworthy edged a boundary from his final delivery to tie the contest.

“What an advert for the game that was – you don’t get many of those," Sanderson said.

"We lost it, then fought back and won it and lost it again, so it had a bit of everything.

“It’s a game of fine margins. We’ve not done ourselves justice in the last couple of games, but it’s something we’re all working on as a team.

“Rishi (Patel) is one of their main players, he’s been doing it for a couple of years now and he’s a very talented player, but we knew once we got him out we’d be able to squeeze them and get ourselves back into the game."

Weatherall almost closed it out for the Steelbacks in the final over, as he had done against Worcestershire Rapids earlier this month.

And Sanderson said: “He’s brilliant, you give him the ball whenever he wants and he runs in and he’s got a smile on his face.

"He’s learning every second – in every warm-up he’s learning something new and it’s showing out there on the pitch.

“To have that composure again at the end for that last over, he deserved to get us over the line there and he was a bit unlucky with the edge (from the final ball).”

As for the Foxes, they too felt it was a bitter-sweet evening at the County Ground.

Leicestershire opener Patel said: "Mixed feelings, really – but we did well to come away with a point and I’m just happy to have contributed.

“Obviously there’s disappointment but at the same time we’re really happy to get one point. That’s better than no points and they can all add up towards the back end of the competition.

“Our group’s really tight so we’ll take it and once everything starts clicking with bat and ball I think we can do really well.

“I’ve been pretty consistent with 30s and 40s so it was more a matter of time, sticking with the same process to get those scores and fortunately it paid off today.

“We don’t play cricket for those statistics, we play to try and win games but as long as I can contribute for the club, that’s all that really matters.”