Quick work from Yorkshire

Yorkshire boosted their hopes of winning the Norwich Union National League First Division title yesterday with a thumping victory over Leicestershire at Grace Road.

Yorkshire boosted their hopes of winning the Norwich Union National League First Division title yesterday with a thumping victory over Leicestershire at Grace Road.

The visitors won by eight wickets in a match which lasted a shade over two and a half hours. The win - Yorkshire's third on the trot - was set up by Matthew Hoggard and Chris Silverwood who took nine wickets between them as Leicestershire were bowled out for 53 in 20.3 overs on a treacherous pitch.

Hoggard did most of the damage, taking 5 for 28, the second time in successive matches he has finished with career-best figures. Silverwood took 4 for 11 while the heroes of England's win over the West Indies, Darren Gough and Craig White, were hardly needed. Not one Leicestershire batsman made double figures - the top scorer in the innings was extras with 15

Yorkshire knocked off the runs in 14.5 overs for the loss of two wickets, the acting captain Darren Lehmann hitting three fours off leg-spinner Anil Kumble towards the end. Leicestershire's third defeat on the trot leaves them in danger of being relegated

In their County Championship game on Saturday, the two sides played out a draw. With no play on Friday Yorkshire managed 340 - thanks to Darren Lehmann's 115 - in reply to Leicestershire's first-innings of 351. The draw gave the Tykes 10 points and just kept them in second place in the Championship.

Lancashire remain in the hunt for their first outright win since 1934 after their 154-run win over Kent at Old Trafford. The 16 points put them two points behind their cross-Pennine rivals and went some way to erasing the memories of their recent troubles in one-day cricket.

Chris Schofield produced his best all-round performance for the club with an unbeaten 70 in Lancashire's second innings and took 4 for 25 with his leg-spinners as Kent were bowled out for 125.

Somerset's match with Durham at Taunton was also destroyed by rain and finished in a draw after Somerset hit 362 for 8 in response to 378 all out from the hosts. Scores of 102 from Graham Rose and 89 from Mike Burns ensured Somerset drew greater satisfaction from the final day than the stalemate would suggest.

In the Second Division Glamorgan were fortunate to escape with a draw against Nottinghamshire at Cardiff after a batting collapse. Following Glamorgan's first-innings total of 288, Nottinghamshire hit 343 and a draw looked the most likely result but Usman Afzaal (3 for 26) and Richard Stemp (3 for 34) reduced the home side to 69 for 4 before they eventually recovered to finish on 99 for 6.

Gloucestershire brought some of their one-day form to the longer format with a 104-run victory over Essex at Colchester. Such is the tightness of the division that spending most of the season on the bottom of the table Gloucestershire could still be eyeing promotion.