WEST Indies captain Jason Holder hit a quickfire half-century and claimed three wickets as Northants walloped Warwickshire for their first One-Day Cup group game victory.

The Bears’ 194-run defeat was their worst in 56 years of one-day cricket.
Northants’ 358-6 included four half centuries, of which Holder was the fastest, with an unbeaten 60 off 31 balls in the final 10 overs.

The Bears then buckled to 164 all out, Holder leading the way with 3-26.
Blessing Muzarabani (3-28) and Ben Sanderson (3-44) matched Holder’s wickets haul to wrap up the game with more than 15 overs unused.

Northants had lost their opening two games, against Durham and Derbyshire. But Rob Keogh (69), Adam Rossington (68) and captain Alex Wakely all weighed in with fifties, while Richard Levi made 78, before becoming a third victim for Henry Brookes (3-80).

Injury-weakened Warwickshire, who tied their opening group game with Yorkshire on Good Friday, were a long way short in reply, their top score coming from 36 apiece for Ed Pollock and youngster Alex Thomson.

They now host Nottinghamshire on Tuesday, while Northants’ next game is at Old Trafford against Lancashire on Wednesday.

“It was a very good team performance. Everyone pulled their weight. We had a disappointing performance in Derby so it’s great to see the guys bounce back.
“The platform was laid with the bat and it was a great effort to score 350. The pitch had good carry and bounce and we exploited that really well.

“Blessing was outstanding with the new ball. He set the tone and everyone followed on nicely.”
“Records don’t bother me. It’s about losing two points and we have pick ourselves up for Tuesday now. We didn’t hit our lengths consistently with the ball.

“We fed them too many balls to hit, whereas against Yorkshire we forced them to defend. Then Blessing and Holder with their lengths, that was the difference.

“Alex Thomson under pressure played well with the bat and there have been some other good signs for our young players.” (BBC Sport).