Hawks swoop for semi spot

Hampshire made sure of top spot in the South Conference of the Friends Provident Trophy to set up a semi-final clash with Warwickshire at the Rose Bowl.

Australia paceman Stuart Clark took a stunning 6-27 for the Hawks as they bowled Surrey out for 181 and thanks largely to 55 off 77 balls from former England batsman John Crawley, they won by three wickets.

Durham were already assured of top spot in the North Conference, and will take on Essex at the Riverside after the Eagles won a tight race for second in the South. Both semis will be played on June 20.

Danish Kaneria starred as Essex beat Somerset comfortably by seven wickets at Chelmsford.

The hosts first bowled out the Sabres for 193 with two balls remaining.

Mark Pettini's 87 helped Essex to victory and a semi-final spot

Somerset skipper Justin Langer top scored with 82 but he eventually fell to Kaneria, who took 5-32.

Opening batsman Mark Pettini blasted 87 off 79 balls in reply and England one-day batsman Ravi Bopara added an unbeaten 51 to see them home.

Gloucestershire just missed out on the semi-finals despite their 40-run victory over Kent, who began the day with aspirations of progressing themselves, at Tunbridge Wells.

Hamish Marshall (63) and skipper Alex Gidman (62) hit half-centuries as Gloucestershire set Kent a target of 276.

The hosts were dismissed for 235 as Gidman and Ian Fisher each claimed three wickets. Andrew Hall top-scored with 55, scoring seven boundaries.

Warwickshire secured second spot in the North Conference behind Durham, beating the north-east county by 39 runs at Edgbaston under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The Bears posted 314 for five with 135 off 82 balls from Tim Ambrose the best individual effort while Jonathan Trott added an unbeaten 107. Durham were 77 for three when the rain began in Birmingham, good enough for the hosts to be declared winners.

Nottinghamshire’s win over Lancashire at Trent Bridge was not enough to take them through.

Mark Ealham's three wickets saw Nottinghamshire home

They restricted the Lightning to 219 for nine as Mark Ealham took 3-34, and their tally of 134 for two, with an unbeaten 60 from Will Jefferson, proved sufficient for victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method by 37 runs.

Matthew Hoggard took 1-55 as he warmed up for his return to Test action for England later this week in a one-run win for Yorkshire over Northamptonshire under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Northants made 314 for four at Headingley with opening pair Stephen Peters (107) and Usman Afzaal (132) both hitting centuries.

Yorkshire were 119 for two when rain stopped play, allowing them to win by the narrowest of margins with Anthony McGrath unbeaten on 62.

Leicestershire beat east midlands rivals Derbyshire by nine wickets at Grace Road, also on Duckworth-Lewis.

Jim Allenby took 5-43 for the Foxes as Derbyshire managed 246 for seven but two towering centuries from John Sadler (113) and John Maunders (109) helped them to 239 for one.

Worcestershire and Scotland took a point each after a rain-affected match at New Road which was declared a no-result.

Vikram Solanki hit 132 for the hosts in a tally of 365 for seven before rain stopped play with the Scots on 20 for three.

In a largely meaningless affair in the lower half of the South Conference, Sussex beat Middlesex by nine runs at Lord’s after restricting their hosts to 262 for eight in their 50 overs in response to 271 for nine. Murray Goodwin smashed 111 for the Sharks.

Ireland’s bottom-of-the-table clash with Glamorgan at Belfast was abandoned without a ball being bowled.