Gloucestershire ease through to semi-finals

Gloucestershire 131 for 3 (14.1 overs, Kadeer Ali 39) beat Worcestershire 123 for 6 (17 overs, Solanki 47) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Vikram Solanki on his way to a top score of 47 ... but it wasn't enough to prevent a Gloucestershire win © Getty Images

Gloucestershire booked themselves a place at next month's Twenty20 Cup finals day with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Worcestershire at Bristol.

As has so often been the case this summer, the match was affected by rain which twice interrupted Worcestershire's innings, the start of which had already been delayed by a wet outfield.

The first break came after two deliveries, and Gloucestershire struck twice after the restart to leave Worcestershire wobbling on 15 for 2 with the dangerous Graeme Hick and Phil Jaques both dismissed by Carl Greenidge. Jon Lewis underlined his England credentials by only conceding 15 runs in his four overs, 11 of which came off his first.

But then Greenidge lost his way, conceding 27 off nine balls, as Vikram Solanki and Ben Smith both looked at ease.

But at 94 for 2 the rain resumed and after a 20-minute delay Solanki and Smith fell within eight balls of the resumption. The innings wobbled, Ian Fisher took two wickets with the last two balls of his second over, and in the end a Duckworth/Lewis target of 129 in 17 overs did not appear enough.

Gloucestershire's reply was well-paced and Kadeer Ali, Hamish Marshall and Chris Taylor all chipped in.

Worcestershire needed to put pressure on Gloucestershire but their first over, from Kabir Ali, went for 20 as Hamish Marshall smashed 36 off 20 deliveries before holing out on the cover boundary.

Kadeer and Taylor added 53 in six overs to put the tie beyond doubt, and although Kadeer fell within sight of the finishing line, Gloucestershire still eased home with 17 balls to spare.