Northamptonshire had reached 180 for eight from their 45 overs thanks largely to Tony Penberthy's solid 55 not out, which came off 113 balls. But in response the Steelbacks' lower order batsmen Kerr and Sutton (27no) showed considerable fight and kept their nerve in the final overs to secure the four points with 14 balls remaining.

Kevin Dean got an early breakthrough after Northants were put into bat. He removed skipper Mike Hussey lbw for two with the total on 15. Dominic Cork and Dean then took two wickets in three balls. Cork bowled Mal Loye for 15, while David Sales (one) was trapped lbw by Dean from the first ball of the 10th over. It left the visitors on 26 for three and it soon became 28 for four when Russell Warren departed lbw to Cork, who conceded just 29 runs from his nine overs.

With the total on 44 Jeff Cook became the fifth visiting batsman to fail. He went for six, as Dean got his third lbw victim. The Steelbacks were desperate for someone to bat through to prevent a premature end to their innings and that came from Penberthy who was able to hit five fours for on his way to a half-century. He was aided well by Ricky Anderson who found the boundary twice on his way to 22 from 28 deliveries.

Derbyshire's reply was hindered by the loss of early wickets. Opener Andrew Gait went for a golden duck, from the second ball of the innings, with the score on one after he edged a Darren Cousins delivery to wicketkeeper Tobin Bailey.

Fellow opener Steve Stubbings also fell cheaply for 11 and by the time Graeme Welch was returning to the pavilion, having been removed by Anderson for 23, the home side were 35 for three. Michael Di Venuto had reached 22 off 20 balls when Penberthy got his first victim of the day, forcing the Australian to edge a full-length delivery through to Bailey.

The right-arm medium pace of Carl Greenidge picked up two cheap wickets as Cork (12) and Matthew Dowman (1) failed to make the necessary impression on the innings.

At the 25-over mark the Scorpions had reached 91 for seven, but with the odds heavily stacked against them the Scorpions produced a 94-run partnership for the eighth wicket between wicketkeeper Sutton and Kerr which proved enough to take them home.

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