Yorkshire take low-scoring thriller
A round-up from the latest Twenty20 Cup matches as Yorkshire secure a nail-biting win while Lancashire and Hampshire have more comfortable success
Cricinfo staff
02-Jun-2009
North Division
Low-scoring games can often be the best and Yorkshire squeezed to a two-wicket win against Durham at Headingley off the last ball in a match dominated by the bowlers. Deon Kruis scrambled the winning run after a crucial cameo by Tim Bresnan - overlooked for the ICC World Twenty20 - who was dropped by Mitchell Claydon when he lost the ball in the sun on the square-leg boundary. Chasing 117, the home side made a reasonable start as Andrew Gale and Anthony McGrath added 30 but then Durham made inroads. Michael Vaughan was run out backing up without facing and Ben Harmsion picked up two middle-order scalps. Durham had found batting equally tough, especially against Rana Naved who gave a superb display of death bowling as he conceded a total of three runs off the 16th and 18th overs.
Lancashire maintained their unbeaten record with a comfortable 38-run win against Derbyshire at Old Trafford. An opening stand of 75 in 40 balls between Paul Horton and Tom Smith set them on their way with Horton hitting 41 off 20 deliveries. The innings was finished off strongly by Steven Croft and Ashwell Prince as they added 51. Derbyshire were never in the hunt as the Lancashire attack made an early mark and Sajid Mahmood claimed a key breakthrough when he removed the middle and off stumps of Chris Rogers. Mahmood finished with a career-best 4 for 29 to continue his impressive form.
North Division
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Pts | Net RR | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancashire | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | +1.225 | 686/91.1 | 630/100.0 |
| Yorkshire | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.069 | 616/96.0 | 614/94.4 |
| Derbyshire | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.402 | 720/99.0 | 701/91.2 |
| Durham | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.520 | 720/100.0 | 772/100.0 |
| Nottinghamshire | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +0.232 | 631/75.1 | 653/80.0 |
| Leicestershire | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.481 | 570/80.0 | 573/75.2 |
South Division
Middlesex's miserable Twenty20 campaign continued with another heavy defeat as they went down by 56 runs to Hampshire at Uxbridge to virtually end their hopes of retaining the title. The batting slumped to 125 all out as they chased a demanding 182 with Liam Dawson and Sean Ervine, who had a fine all-round game, sharing seven wickets. Dawson made the decisive incisions as he claimed three top-order scalps. Hampshire's total was set-up by half-centuries from Michael Carberry (56) and Ervine (53 off 26 balls) as they added 79 for the third wicket. Ervine played the innings of the day as he struck four sixes to give the innings vital momentum.
South Division
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Pts | Net RR | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | +0.974 | 522/59.5 | 465/60.0 |
| Kent | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | +0.840 | 600/75.2 | 570/80.0 |
| Hampshire | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +0.812 | 755/96.1 | 684/97.1 |
| Sussex | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +0.047 | 828/113.4 | 819/113.1 |
| Surrey | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +0.137 | 812/100.0 | 797/99.5 |
| Middlesex | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.248 | 603/100.0 | 785/94.5 |