DAVID Willey smashed 74 off 46 balls against his former county Northamptonshire at Headingley last night to boost Yorkshire’s NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final hopes with a massive 75-run win.

Willey hammered five fours and six sixes in another 200 plus total for the Vikings, who finished with 215-6 after electing to bat.

Group leaders Northants then responded with 140 all out inside 16 overs as Yorkshire won for the sixth time in 13 North Group matches to move into the top four qualifying places courtesy of defeats for Durham and Birmingham.

This means a win over Northants at Wantage Road next Friday in their final group game would be enough for Yorkshire to qualify. They may not even need that.

Ben Duckett fired 51 off 23 for the visitors, who lost wickets all too regularly.

Yorkshire took their time to get going, with only 29 runs coming off the first five overs for the loss of Adam Lyth.

But their innings sprung into life with a stand of 106 in 10.4 overs between Willey and captain Alex Lees, who hit three successive fours off Richard Gleeson at the start of the sixth over on the way to 35 off 27 balls.

Willey, caught in the deep off ex-Yorkshire seamer Moin Ashraf, was supported by a series of aggressive cameos from Lees, Travis Head, Jack Leaning, who hit 30 off 14 balls, and Tim Bresnan with 26 off nine.

Leaning even hit 23 of 24 off Josh Cobb’s off-spin in the 16th over, including two sixes and two fours.

This innings, including 13 sixes, followed on from the 223-6 scored against Durham at Headingley on Wednesday.

But Yorkshire have scored 200 plus twice in successive matches before, in early July 2004.

Northants, for whom Ashraf took 2-42 from four, suffered a setback in the field when big-hitting opener Richard Levi fell awkwardly whilst taking a superb catch at backward point to dismiss Lees off Steven Crook. He left the field with a right arm injury and was unable to bat.

Still, the Steelbacks got their chase off to a lightning start courtesy of England Lions left-hander Duckett, who hit Bresnan for five fours in the fourth over to take the score to 47-1.

Bresnan had picked up the first wicket by getting Cobb caught and bowled in the second over.

Liam Plunkett, who excelled with 1-13 from four against Durham on Wednesday, then picked up two wickets in two balls in the fifth, those of Adam Rossington and Alex Wakely to make it 47-3.

But Yorkshire could not rest easily until they had Duckett, who was stumped by Andrew Hodd off Adil Rashid in the ninth over as the score slipped to 89-4.

Rashid and fellow spinner Azeem Rafiq both finished with two wickets apiece.

Yorkshire are back in Royal London one-day Cup action tomorrow, against Leicestershire at Grace Road (11am start).

The Vikings begin the second half of their group campaign in third place with two wins, a defeat and a No Result from their first four matches.

The top four teams qualify for the quarter-finals, with Yorkshire looking to make it three wins on the trot after wins against Northamptonshire and Lancashire on successive days last month.

Lyth is targeting a third century in a row. Leicestershire are bottom of the group without a win.