DeFreitas six seals Foxes' victory

Phil Defreitas hit a six in the final over to seal a five-wicket victory for Leicestershire Foxes in a Norwich Union League First Division match against Yorkshire Phoenix at Grace Road yesterday. Five runs were needed from the last three balls when the former England all-rounder smashed a good-length ball by Tim Bresnan over long-on to seal the Foxes' win.

It was the final act in a match which had made an equally dramatic start, with Yorkshire losing their first four wickets for just one run after winning the toss.

The match lasted as long as it did because of Matthew Elliott, who hit a century on his one-day debut for Yorkshire to help them recover. The Australian made 109 and shared a 181-run partnership with Anthony McGrath as Yorkshire recovered to post 229 for 6. But Darren Stevens' rapid 85 and Mohammad Kaif's unbeaten 60 set up a tense finish in which DeFreitas had the last word.

At Trent Bridge a whirlwind century from Kevin Pietersen was enough to see Nottinghamshire Outlaws leapfrog above Somerset Sabres at the bottom of the First Division table with a 69-run win.

The 22-year-old South African, fresh from his brilliant unbeaten 254 in the County Championship against Middlesex earlier in the week, rocketed to 122 from 100 balls to lift the Outlaws to 239 for nine off 45 overs.

He clubbed five sixes – three off Ian Blackwell in one devastating over worth 20 runs – and nine fours and shared in a 98-run fifth-wicket stand with the wicketkeeper Chris Read. The young Nottinghamshire prospect Bilal Shafayat then took 4 for 35 with his right-arm medium pace and the left-armer David Lucas 3 for 13 in an inspired opening stint to skittle the Sabres for 170 with more than six overs to spare.