Gloucestershire take title as Essex let victory slip

Gloucestershire Gladiators claimed the Norwich Union Second Division title yesterday with a 52-run victory over Derbyshire Scorpions thanks to a superb team batting performance which saw them post their second-highest score of the season in the competition.

Their 292 for 8 was just four short short of their previous best this summer and it was achieved after the former England wicketkeeper Jack Russell (42) and Craig Spearman (81 off 67 balls) laid the foundations with an 111-run opening stand. Telling contributions from the captain Mark Alleyne (54) and Tim Hancock (45) helped set a formidable target for the visitors, for whom Jason Kerr claimed 3 for 34 and Mathew Dowman 3 for 38. Unfortunately, 20 overs from the trio of Graeme Welch, Kevin Dean and Neil Gunter went for 182.

Derbyshire gave it their best shot but only three batsmen made any significant score and they were dismissed for a more than reasonable 240 off 41.4 overs. Steve Selwood fell seven short of his century, Chris Bassano hit 61 and Dowman 45 but Nathan Dumelow (13) was the only other batsmen to reach double figures as Mike Smith picked up 3 for 33.

Second-placed Surrey Lions all but secured their promotion to the top flight with a nail-biting two-run win over Essex Eagles.

Hopes were not high, having been dismissed for 162 as Essex Eagles' Ashley Cowan claimed 4 for 16 in a devastating 8.3-over spell. Surrey's scoring was severely restricted with the Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq the top scorer with 28 not out, closely followed by captain Adam Hollioake with 27.

Essex appeared to be in control at 137 for 4 but lost their last six wickets for just 23 runs ­ and their last four for just five runs ­ as Hollioake (3 for 11) and Ed Giddins (3 for 43) did the damage with only Ronnie Irani (41), Paul Grayson and Will Jefferson (both 29) posting telling scores.

In the First Division, Somerset Sabres registered a morale-boosting 118-run victory over Kent Spitfires but it still did not lift the already-relegated side off the bottom of the table. Their win owed much to the opener Piran Holloway, who smashed an unbeaten 112 off 119 balls as the home side reached an imposing 244 for 6 at Taunton. The all-rounder Ian Blackwell, who has been called up for England's ICC Champions Trophy one-day squad, then ran through the Kent batting with 4 for 24 off six overs as the Spitfires crashed from 79 for 1 to 126 all out. Australia's Test captain Steve Waugh (53) was their top scorer.

Hampshire became the first team to suffer relegation from the Frizzell County Championship First Division this season when their weather-affected clash against Sussex ended in a tame draw at Hove yesterday.

The writing was on the wall from the moment Sussex had posted a massive 631 for 6 on the second day but the result means Robin Smith's team will return to the bottom division after only one season.

The visitors were all out for 401 and forced to follow-on 230 runs behind but Sussex were left with little more than one full session in which to push for victory. In their second innings, Hampshire crawled to 67 for 1 from 37 overs before an early halt was called to proceedings with Zimbabwe's all-rounder Neil Johnson 51 not out.