Pietersen's sizzling seven skittles out Denmark

Charl Pietersen enjoyed a dream Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy debut for Northamptonshire as Denmark collapsed to the lowest score in the competition's history yesterday.

The South African Pietersen took 7 for 10 off eight overs - the best by a Northamptonshire bowler in the competition - to skittle out the Danes for just 56 at Svanholm in a match that was all over by 1.15pm. No Danish batsman made double figures as Pietersen ran riot in favourable conditions, with 24 extras edging the hosts past 50.

The 22-year-old left-armer said: "The ball was swinging about and they were perfect conditions for bowling. I got lucky with a couple of wickets but any bowler is happy to take seven. I got a few to nip back to the right-handers, had a couple of lbw decisions and a couple caught behind. I just concentrated on getting the ball in the right areas and the conditions did the rest."

Pietersen was playing league cricket in Loughborough last year when the Northamptonshire academy director David Capel offered him a trial. Two impressive performances in the second XI led to a two-year contract. Pietersen said: "I'm grateful for the opportunity I've been given. But one performance won't get me in, I've got to be consistent with my wicket-taking and my economy."

Ben Phillips started the rout when he had Mickey Lund caught behind by Rikki Wessels for four - but Pietersen was soon in on the act when he bowled Lund's opening partner Rashid Ali for eight. Steffan Jones then trapped Johan Malcolm in front for eight before Pietersen took centre stage, dismissing Carsten Pedersen and Mickael Pedersen before going to work on the tail.

The Danish refused to lie down in the field, however, with the openers Bilal Shafayat and Martin Love both caught behind by the wicketkeeper Darren Treumer before Tim Roberts steered the visitors home with a quickfire 20.

The Danish coach Peter Palle Klokker said: "We knew it was going to be difficult. We are a little bit behind the other European countries at the moment. These matches against counties can only help the players and it's a learning curve for all the players. We have a lot of young players and it was good for them to test themselves against the professionals."

Two Matthew Hoggard wickets put Yorkshire in the driving seat before the weather intervened to leave Ireland struggling on 33 for 3 in Belfast.

The England captain Michael Vaughan was playing his first match of the summer but it was his opening bowler, Hoggard, who lit up a dreary day with the wickets of the Irish captain Jason Molins and Andre Botha as the hosts struggled to come to terms with bowler-friendly conditions.

The all-rounder Tim Bresnan had already taken the first Irish scalp when he trapped the Australian Jeremy Bray in front for a golden duck with the score on just one.