Fairbrother and Schofield lead Lancashire to victory over Derbyshire

Neil Fairbrother and Chris Schofield set up a comfortable Lancashire victory which left Derbyshire at the bottom of the National League Second Division at Old Trafford last night.

Fairbrother, who has enjoyed an excellent season in both Championship and one-day cricket, stepped up to open the batting and hit 78 from 98 balls.

That set Lancashire on the way to a total of 210 for six in their 45 overs, with handy contributions from John Crawley, Andy Flintoff, Graham Lloyd and Warren Hegg.

Derbyshire made a good start to their reply with Steve Stubbings and Matt Dowman sharing an opening stand of 49 in 11 overs.

But after Stubbings fell lbw to England under-19 paceman Kyle Hogg, the Scorpions lost wickets steadily.

Chris Bassano was run out by a direct hit from Mike Smethurst and Dowman was caught behind for 41 off Gary Yates's first ball.

Then Schofield took over, claiming his best ever limited overs figures of five for 31 with only Nathan Dumelow's 33 offering much resistance.

Schofield also ran out Derbyshire's debutant Steve Selwood from backward point to complete a satisfying personal night, while Yates ended with two for 21 from his nine overs, and Hogg earned one for 14 in six overs.