National League Roundup

Thankfully there was a full round of National League matches on Monday, with the weather for once not being a factor. The day was somewhat clouded none the less by the sight of Allan Donald being carried off on a stretcher in the Warwickshire - Hampshire match. Donald, who effectively already had secured a win for the Bears with a magnificent spell of 3 for 9, was attempting to catch Shane Warne on the boundary when he crashed heavily into an advertising board, apparently injuring his back or ribs. Warne had bowled well in the Warwicks innings but a half-century from Trevor Penney supported by a 70 run opening stand from Knight and Welch took them to 215. Donald, coming on after 12 overs, ripped the heart out of the Hampshire line-up and capturing the vital wicket of Smith. Hampshire had no hope of recovering from 58/6, and Warwickshire's delight at a comprehensive victory will be tempered by concern over the health of their strike bowler.

In Division 1, the match of the day was a thrilling tie between Leicestershire and Sussex at Grace Road. Leicestershire's total did not look intimidating as seamer Robinson (4/23) kept the batsman guessing. Habib top-scored with a patient 38*. The much maligned Chris Lewis continued his good form with the ball, but Sussex looked to have the match well in hand at 113/2, with Bevan going well. Kumble bowled economically (only conceding 18 runs from his 9 overs), and Sussex were unable to accelerate. When Bevan went with 30 runs still required from 6 overs, the stage was set for a thrilling finish. In a tumultuous final over, Chris Lewis took two wickets, but last pair Kirtley and Robinson ran a bye to the 'keeper from the final ball to tie the match.

Elsewhere in Division 1, the St Lawrence ground proved to be most helpful to the Kent bowlers, as Northamptonshire collapsed in slow motion to 76 all out (the innings taking 40.4 overs). Captain Hayden fell for a duck, and Loye and Innes joint top-scored with 16 apiece (Loye taking 65 balls). Seamer Ben Phillips was the pick of the bowlers with 4/25, and Mark Ealham bowled 8.4 overs for just 10 runs. Kent looked in some jeopardy of emulating their opponents as the openers fell for 9 runs, but steady batting from Dravid (31*) took them to their target with over 25 overs to spare.

The final Division 1 match of the day saw Somerset beat Gloucestershire by a narrow margin. Somerset were in deep trouble at 20/4 with their overseas player Cox gone for 6, but a patient 66 from Parsons (his best one-day innings, incidentally containing no boundaries) saw them to respectability. Ian Harvey bowled most impressively for his 5/33, the best figures of the day. Gloucestershire got off to a good start, but with wickets falling they fell behind the run-rate, as Steffan Jones bowled with pace for his 4/32. Captain Mark Alleyne batted well for his 44*, but 9 were needed from the final over. Alleyne managed a single from the first, but last man Smith was run out by a direct hit off the next..

In Division 2 action, Middlesex came out on top of a low scoring match with Derby. No Middlesex batsman dominated but workmanlike innings from Ramprakash and Shah, helped by a generous serving of wides from the Derby bowlers took them to 185. Derby were almost completely unable to score against Fraser (2/7 from 5 overs), and only keeper Karl Krikken showed much resistance as Paul Weekes polished off the tail with 4/26.