Saturday, June 14, 2008

Ex Protea Hall the star of the show

South African all-rounder Andrew Hall was the star of the show as Northamptonshire hammered Worcestershire by 33 runs in the English Twenty20 Cup on Friday.

Hall smashed an unbeaten 66 in Northants' 182 for four and then took six wickets at a cost of only 21 runs in his four overs as Worcestershire slumped to 149 all out.

Ian Westwood edged a boundary off the last ball to earn Warwickshire a tie against Gloucestershire at Bristol.

The visitors needed 82 off their last six overs to reach a victory target of 159, and almost got there thanks to Tony Frost's 53 off 33 balls and an extraordinary contribution from Gloucestershire seamer Anthony Ireland.

He effectively conceded 12 off one ball in the 17th over, being hit for six off his first delivery and then sending down two no-ball full-tosses above waist height, which meant he had to be removed from the attack.

Gloucestershire's total of 158 for four was built around an opening stand of 60 between Craig Spearman and Hamish Marshall, who top scored with 46. Ant Botha took three for 22 from four overs.

Durham cruised to a six-wicket victory against Leicestershire to boost their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals.

A fifth-wicket partnership of 52 in four overs between Dale Benkenstein and Albie Morkel saw Durham through to their second win of the week.

Batting first after winning the toss, the home side posted a total of 142 for eight but the strong Durham batting line-up made light work of the chase, reaching their victory target with two overs to spare.

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