Weather causes Moody blues

SUNDAY ROUND-UP

Warwickshire did their bit for their neighbours and rivals, but the rain at New Road denied Worcestershire a chance of sneaking the title away from Kent, writes Richard Wetherell. Not only did they not win, but a second consecutive Sunday wash-out condemned them to finishing third behind Warwickshire. A cheque for pounds 8,750 may go some way to assuaging the frustration.

Worcestershire did get under way, but their innings was halted with 17 balls remaining on 145 for 6. One lengthy delay later and Glamorgan were set 118 from 30 overs.

Another storm, after the visitors had reached 3 for 0 off 10 deliveries, ensured the abandonment. "It's disappointing but you can't do much about the weather," Tom Moody, the Worcestershire captain, said.

For Glamorgan, who led the league in mid-July only to finish sixth, the match was not without reward. They won more cash than Worcestershire with their players dominating the league's individual awards. Steve Watkin (32) and Steve Barwick (30) finished as the leading wicket- takers to pocket pounds 3,000 and pounds 1,500 respectively. Their opener Steve James took pounds 3,000 for being the leading run-scorer with 815, while their wicketkeeper Colin Metson collected pounds 1,500 after claiming 27 dismissals.

A 10-over thrash at Chelmsford saw David Byas hit three successive fours in the final over to carry Yorkshire to a nine-wicket win over Essex. Replying to 82 for 6, the visitors arrived at the final over still nine short of victory. Byas was unable to score off Mark Ilott's first ball but then dispatched the next three to the on-side boundary.

Byas shared in an opening stand of 74 with Michael Bevan, who contributed 42 from 31 deliveries before falling to Darren Cousins. Bevan's innings took his Sunday league total to 704, the highest by a player in his first season in the competition.

In another match much interrupted by rain, Surrey beat Hampshire on a faster scoring rate, relegating them to last place. Only a solid innings of 70 by Matthew Keech enabled Hampshire to reach the respectability of 166 for 6 off the 31 overs they were able to face.

The third and longest of the stoppages meant that Surrey's target became 108 off 20 overs. Surrey were struggling to achieve the required rate but Nadeem Shahid, after a slow start, finally got to grips with the task and struck six fours, and a six over extra cover, scoring an unbeaten 49 off 37 balls to take Surrey to victory on a higher scoring rate with an over to spare.

Paul Jarvis took six wickets to bowl out Northamptonshire for 194 and Sussex were looking comfortable in pursuit at 155 for 4 with 14 overs remaining. But they crashed to 180 all out with seven balls remaining.