Middlesex routed again

Ben Phillips has his stumps shattered by Alex Wharf, but Northants still beat Glamorgan at Wantage Road © Getty Images

South

Surrey routed their London rivals Middlesex, who have yet to win a match in the competition, by seven wickets at The Oval. Nayan Doshi took 4 for 22 with his left-arm spin before James Benning romped past a target of 116 with 41 balls to spare. A packed house of 23,000 turned out to watch.

Essex drew level with Kent at the top of the table after beating them by five wickets at Chelmsford. The wickets were shared between all five bowlers as Kent were restricted to 157, whereupon Ronnie Irani led the chase with 53 from 43 balls.

Hampshire successfully defended a meagre target of 112 against Sussex at The Rose Bowl. Dmitri Mascarenhas was their hero, with 4 for 23 to restrict Sussex's tail. They closed on 97 for 9.

Gloucestershire posted their highest score since the Twenty20 competition began, as Craig Spearman and Chris Taylor led the onslaught against Somerset at Bristol. Spearman made 63 from 32 balls and Taylor 83 from 34 in a total of 227, which proved to be well out of their opponent's reach, despite a lusty reply from Justin Langer, who top-scored with 49.

Glamorgan slumped to a 14-run defeat against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road, despite the best efforts of Brendon McCullum, who smacked 40 from 15 balls to keep their pursuit of 174 on course. David Sales and Lance Klusener had already shown the way with the bat for Northants, however, who then held onto all their catches to seal an important win in the top half of the table.

Worcestershire finally recorded their first victory of the tournament, and did so in fine style, beating their local rivals Warwickshire by four runs in front of an enthusiastic 15,000 crowd at Edgbaston. Worcestershire batted first and made 186, with Ben Smith's unbeaten 69 anchoring the performance, and they were always in control thereafter, despite an unbeaten 75 from Jonathan Trott.

Nottinghamshire consolidated their lead at the top of the North division thanks to a virtuoso performance from Graeme Swann. He took 3 for 15 to restrict Derbyshire to 128, then led a measured run-chase with 40 from 29 balls. Notts were victors with four balls and seven wickets to spare.

Leicestershire look like joining Notts in the next round after seeing off Durham at Grace Road. Their total of 144 for 5 seemed eminently gettable, but Nick Walker destroyed Durham's response with 3 for 19.

A minute's silence for Fred Trueman inspired Yorkshire to a 15-run win over their Roses rivals, Lancashire at Old Trafford. Batting first, Yorkshire posted 156 for 7, thanks to Anthony McGrath's 43-ball half-century, but that proved sufficient for victory. Lancashire lost their way after a decent start, with only Mark Chilton passing 30.