Akhtar destroys Gloucestershire

Division One

Points Table

Shoaib Akhtar destroyed Gloucestershire by taking 6 for 16 off 17 overs. Kabir Ali joined him in an effective opening pairing, taking 2 for 23 as Worcestershire skittled the visitors for 105. It was no surprise, then, when they cruised to an eight-wicket victory, Chris Gayle leading the charge with an unbeaten 53 to wrap up the win within 25 overs. It was the only match possible in this division after Northamptonshire's match with Glamorgan was washed out with no result.

Division Two

Points Table

One-sided, eight-wicket victories were something of a theme in Division Two, as well, as Surrey crushed Derbyshire and Durham routed Kent by that margin.

Tim Murtagh and Azhar Mahmood ripped through Derbyshire in another devastating opening pairing, Murtagh taking 4 for 14 and Mahmood returning 3 for 20. It took Surrey just 16.1 overs to reach their 89-run target, with James Benning striking 53 of those runs.

Kent collapsed to 140 all out, Neil Killeen and Gareth Breese both taking three wickets. Gavin Hamilton (43) and Jimmy Maher (70) made sure of the victory with 17.3 overs left.

Leicestershire bucked the trend - they posted 253 for 8 before bowling Yorkshire out for 120 to win by 133 runs, with Ottis Gibson leading the attack, taking 3 for 27 from 8 overs. There were half-centuries for Darren Maddy and Aftab Habib, who made 65 not out, in Leicestershire's innings, while Simon Guy played a lone hand with 40, but his late flourish only made a cosmetic difference.