Hick and Thomas continue the run-fest

Last season, there was just one century in the entire Twenty20 competition, as made by Gloucestershire's Ian Harvey. Today, Graeme Hick and Ian Thomas took the 2004 tally to three hundreds in as many days of action. The government may be campaigning to outlaw spanking, but on this evidence, they are fighting a losing battle.

The match of the day was down at Taunton, where Thomas bludgeoned a phenomenal 116 not out from just 57 balls, as Glamorgan chased down Somerset's stiff target of 194. Thomas cracked 11 fours and seven sixes - and a pavilion window - as Somerset's bowlers were clobbered to all corners of the ground.

Somerset had been favourites at the halfway mark, as James Hildreth took advantage of a lax fielding effort to make 66 from 33 balls. But Thomas was in the mood to chase down any total, and he was aided and abetted by David Hemp, who finished unbeaten on 31, as Glamorgan won with three balls to spare.

Thomas's effort equalled the Twenty20 record, as set by Hick at Luton a few hours earlier. His unbeaten 116 came from eight more deliveries - and featured one fewer six - but it was yet another example of the devastating power that used to be a feature of his one-day batting with England. Rain interrupted Northamptonshire's reply, but they never came close to a revised target of 102, falling 22 runs short in their 11 overs.

The other match took place at Maidstone, where Andrew Symonds was back in action after his 34-ball hundred on the opening day. This time, however, he was unable to reproduce the performance, as Essex limited Kent to 125, before bowling them out in the final over. Scott Brant was the star, with 4 for 20 in 3.2 overs, and after that it was over to Ronnie Irani. He slapped 64 not out from 52 balls, to wrap up the match with more than four overs to spare.