Nicholson and Panesar rout Glamorgan

Division Two

A close finish was anticipated at Wantage Road when Glamorgan were left needing 225 for victory - but that was before Matthew Nicholson and Monty Panesar got into their stride. Powered by their Anglo-Aussie combination, Northants romped to victory by 168 runs, as the Glamorgan line-up crumbled for just 56. Extraordinarily, not a single batsman was dismissed for a duck, but only the captain, Robert Croft, reached double figures. Nicholson led the way with season-best figures of 6 for 23, while Panesar - back in the peace and quiet after the Test series - twirled away for three wickets in eight frugal overs.

Phil Jaques finished in the manner in which he had started at Chelmsford, slamming ten fours in an unbeaten 60 as Worcestershire wrapped up a comfortable nine-wicket victory. Having set up the victory with a fabulous 244 in the first innings, Jaques had passed 300 runs for the match, having been dismissed only once. The victory had never really been in doubt after Essex had been made to follow on, although they scrapped hard in their second innings, to finish on 486, a lead of 120. Ronnie Irani, 92 not out overnight, was denied his third century of the season, as Zaheer Khan picked up his tenth wicket of the match (but first of the innings), whereupon Alex Tudor reminded everyone of his batting prowess with a boundary-laden 93. He followed up with the early wicket of Stephen Moore, but Vikram Solanki joined Jaques in a matchwinning 95-run stand.

Derbyshire's tailenders clung on for dear life, as Gloucestershire were denied an uplifting victory at Derby. After resuming on 163 for 2, a lead of 217, Gloucestershire made rapid progress towards their declaration, with Chris Taylor completing his first century of the season. Derbyshire were eventually set a target of 355, but their ambitions took an early knock when Michael di Venuto fell to Jon Lewis for a duck. Chris Taylor (the Derbyshire version) and Travis Birt put the innings back on track with a pair of half-centuries, but Hassan Adnan's run-out gave Gloucestershire the momentum they needed. From 189 for 3 Derbyshire shed five wickets for 37, with Lewis, Martyn Ball and Steve Kirby all in the wickets. At 226 for 8 there seemed only one outcome, but Andy Gray and Steffan Jones dug in with a pair of crucial unbeaten 23s, until bad light came to their aid.