Zaman had gone for ten runs off as many balls in his early spell against Northants, when he struck with the fifth ball of his second over. Gay had taken Northants’ total past 100 after sharing a 42-ball run partnership with Chris Lynn, and was closing in on a half-century. With Gay on 47, Zaman bowled a perfect delivery, which zoned in on the base of leg stump and ripped it from the ground.

Gay walked off immediately shaking his head that there was anything he could’ve done with the ball, leaving his side 108-5 with six overs remaining to bat. Zaman, however, was just getting into his stride. Next in his sights was Saif Zaib, who whacked Zaman for six off the second ball he faced. The next ball was his undoing, with Zaman bowling a full ball again which Zaib could only chip to midwicket.

Two wickets already in the bag, Zaman finished his spell in the final over. Another crushing yorker meant he finished with three wickets. Andrew Tye was on strike for the second ball of the over and fell victim to a ball on his off-stump this time. The ball landed perfectly in front of the base of the stump, which was once more forced out of its hole.

Zaman finished the innings with figures of 3-26, before Derbyshire chased down the runs with five balls to spare.

You can watch Zaman’s three-wicket spell below

Zaman Khan extended his #Blast23 wicket tally to 19 last night 💪

He picked up three wickets against the Northamptonshire Steelbacks! pic.twitter.com/J67uVZFE64

— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) June 22, 2023