Warwickshire go through

Warwickshire's victory over Northamptonshire was enough to allow them to claim the best runner up spot and reach the finals day.

Gloucestershire vs. Glamorgan

A record score for Gloucestershire in their 20 overs after winning the toss and batting. In-form openers Craig Spearman and Ian Harvey added a rapid 73 for the first wicket, and with both Chris Taylor and Alex Gidman hitting rapid 36's (off 22 and 16 balls respectively) to add to Spearman's 88 from just 39 balls (including 7 fours and 7 sixes) - they amassed a huge 221-7 from their 20 overs.

In reply Glamorgan needed a miracle, but despite Matthew Maynard's brave efforts for 69 at the top of the order, they were soon a dismal 89-5, and although Robert Croft and Michael Kasprowicz rallied late on, Gloucestershire were not to be denied their 5th straight victory.

Northamptonshire vs. Warwickshire

On choosing to bat, Nick Knight played a superb anchor innings, batting throughout for an unbeaten 69 from 47 balls, whilst at the other end Neil Carter's 29 from 18 balls and Trevor Penney with 42 from 25, scored rapidly to allow the Bears to score 202-5 from their overs, beaten to 200 by Gloucestershire in the same round of matches.

Facing such a daunting prospect, Northamptonshire needed to bat very well, but superb bowling from both Carter and Graham Wagg (who combined to take 4 wickets at a cost of just 34 runs from 8 overs between them) meant that Graeme Swann's unbeaten 42 from 29 balls was very much in vain.

Worcestershire vs. Somerset

Number 3 Gareth Batty was the star turn as Worcestershire were put in. The England spinner hammered 87 from just 48 balls, which was the only difference between a poor score and an average one of 161-5, with no other batsman really firing. The key over to turn the game came when Keith Parsons was introduced, and promptly hit for 27 runs before being hastily removed from the attack.

Parsons' bad day continued when he scratched around for 10 balls to score just 3 runs as Somerset were reduced to 57-6, with 5 different bowlers notching as well as a run out. The game was up, and although Wesley Durston and Aaron Laraman battled gamely, Nantie Hayward returned to polish off the tail as they were dismissed for 124.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 221-7 (Spearman 88, Taylor 36, Gidman 36, Kasprowicz 2-25, Croft 2-44)
GLAMORGAN 168-7 (Maynard 69, Kasprowicz 31, Smith 2-18, Harvey 2-23, Ball 2-28)

WARWICKSHIRE 202-5 (Knight 69*, Penney 42, Carter 29, Cawdron 2-32)
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 148-7 (Swann 42*, Phillips 26, Sales 25, Wagg 2-16, Carter 2-18, Smith 2-20)

WORCESTERSHIRE 161-5 (Batty 87, Moore 33, Jones 2-24)
SOMERSET 124a/o (Durston 34, Laraman 28*, Gazzard 25, Hayward 3-21, Leatherdale 2-14, Batty 2-37)

Posted by Marc