• Friends Life t20

Hales returns to county action in style

Alex Hales was on county duty after his England knock © AFP

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England Twenty20 prospect Alex Hales' fine form continued with the bat as he propelled Nottinghamshire back to the top of the Friends Life t20 North Group with a 41-run victory over Durham.

The 23-year-old, fresh from his brilliant 99 against the West Indies on his home ground last weekend, hit 88 off 51 balls with four sixes and six fours, sharing a club record partnership of 142 with Riki Wessels for the second wicket.

Wessels himself made 53 and Michael Lumb 36 as Notts posted 210 for three in the first innings, Mitch Claydon picking up three for 34.

Durham lost early wickets and, although Ben Stokes (56) smashed four sixes from 32 balls, his dismissal by Darren Pattinson ended any hopes of a win for the visitors, who finished on 169 for seven.

Yorkshire took a giant step toward qualifying for the quarter-finals by beating Lancashire by 19 runs in front of a 10,350 crowd at Headingley.

Yorkshire, put in to bat, were 60 for three after 10 overs, losing all three batsmen to boundary catches.

However, they were then propelled to their final total of 180 for six by a hurricane stand of 91 in 7.1 overs between David Miller and Gary Ballance.

It was a Yorkshire record in Twenty20 cricket for the fifth wicket and it rapidly turned a modest score into a highly competitive one, Lancashire keeping abreast of the rate for a while before losing momentum to finish on 161 for five.

Former Derbyshire all-rounder Wayne White condemned his ex-team mates to a fifth defeat as Leicestershire won a thrilling match by four wickets off the last ball at Derby.

White hit the final ball from Rana Naved-ul-Hasan to the fine leg boundary to clinch victory and overhaul the Falcons' 171 for three which was built around an unbeaten 55 from Wes Durston.

Hamish Marshall led from the front with 66 as Gloucestershire romped to a shock nine-wicket win over Somerset with 5.2 overs to spare.

A packed crowd of more than 7,000 saw the hosts fall to their first defeat in the Midlands/Wales/West Division, having been restricted to 140 for eight after winning the toss, Albie Morkel top-scoring with 33.

Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (two for 20) and Ed Young (one for 18) bowled their eight overs for a combined total of 38 runs, while Ian Saxelby and James Fuller claimed two wickets each.

Marshall and Benny Howell (55 not out) then made the total look even more inadequate, with an opening stand of 115 in 12.1 overs.

Michael Rippon took career-best figures of four for 23 on his debut as Sussex romped to an 83-run victory over Kent at Hove .

Murray Goodwin blasted an unbeaten 68 while Chris Nash made 54 as Sussex posted their second highest Twenty20 score ever of 212 for six.

That was always going to be tough for Kent and they fell well short as left-arm wrist spinner Rippon helped bowl them out for 129.

Glenn Maxwell produced another explosive innings to carry Hampshire to victory against Essex at Chelmsford.

The 23-year-old Australian smashed an unbeaten 60 from only 24 balls as the visitors overhauled their opponents' total of 176 for four with six wickets and 12 balls to spare.

Warwickshire captain Jim Troughton led by example with a half-century in his side's seven-wicket win over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.

Australia international Cameron White hammered 39 off just 24 balls as the Steelbacks posted 153 for seven with England one-day seamer Chris Woakes taking three for 27.

The Bears then maintained their quarter final-push by easily chasing down their target with 23 balls to spare and for the loss of just three wickets as Troughton smashed a brilliant 68 not out off 49 deliveries.

Phil Hughes showed the Australians what they are missing by lighting up Worcestershire's campaign in a 19-run victory over Glamorgan at New Road.

While his countrymen were slipping to defeat by England in the one-day international at Lord's, the 23-year-old left-hander thrashed an unbeaten 87 from 57 balls as the Royals accelerated to 164 for five.

Hughes' third half century in four Twenty20 innings for his third English county proved to be decisive when the Dragons were pegged to 145 for six despite an unbeaten 40 by Stewart Walters.

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