Star man Cockbain outshines Pietersen

The England batsman survived two big shouts for leg before and hit just two boundaries before falling to a brilliant catch by man of the match Ian Cockbain diving full length at deep mid-wicket.

Cockbain, making only his second appearance in the competition, had smashed a 78 off 46 balls, with five sixes and six fours, to boost Gloucestershire’s total to 168-6 after they had lost the toss.

Surrey never looked likely to reach their target after Pietersen’s dismissal – which left them 75-4 – and they were bowled out for a meagre 122 in the final over.

It was the Gladiators’ first t20 win of the season and ended a seven-match losing streak stretching back to last season’s competition.

Muttiah Muralitharan claimed 2-28, but left-arm seamer David Payne was the pick of the bowlers with 3-20. Part-time off-spinner Kane Williamson took 2-18 from his four overs, including the prize wicket of Pietersen.

None of the Surrey batsmen could make an impact on the small Kings School ground and they ended up well beaten.

Cockbain lit up Gloucestershire’s innings after they had managed only 31-3 from the six overs of fielding restrictions and then struggled to 85-4 in the 13th over when captain Alex Gidman was caught off a miscued slog for 28.

Suddenly the tempo was transformed as 24-year-old Cockbain, a product of MCC Young Cricketers, smacked the first two of his sixes in the same over from Chris Schofield – the second a towering one over mid-wicket to bring up his half-century off 35 balls.

Maximums followed off Dirk Nannes, Jade Dernbach and Yasir Arafat as Cockbain cut loose, receiving good support from Chris Taylor (32 no) in a fifth-wicket stand of 71. Cockbain was finally out in the 19th over, caught by Pietersen at long off.

Twenty20: Alex Hales and Samit Patel staked their claim for England one-day selection as Nottinghamshire extended their unbeaten start tin the North Group with a 10-run victory over Warwickshire Bears at Trent Bridge.

Opener Hales struck 11 elegant fours in an innings of 67 from 40 balls, and Patel hit a quickfire 37 not out before excelling with the ball, conceding just 18 runs from his four overs and claiming one wicket.

Notts totalled 173-6 with Adam Voges contributing 39, and the Outlaws’ disciplined bowling held back the visitors as three wickets fell inside the first four overs.

Powerful blows from England seamer Chris Woakes gave Warwickshire a degree of hope but needing 21 off the final over bowled by Darren Pattinson, the Bears could only manage 10, Woakes finishing on 44 not out.

Twenty20: Debutant Wahab Riaz and Sam Northeast shared an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 66 off 26 balls to send Kent Spitfires to their first victory with a six-wicket win over Glamorgan Dragons at the SWALEC Stadium.

After being put in, the Dragons appeared in control after posting 154-5 in their 20 overs on a slow Cardiff pitch.

Kent looked in some difficulty at 59-2 at the halfway stage which left them needing 96 off the final 10 overs.

But Riaz (32), the Pakistan seamer, and Northeast (33) held their nerve to win the game with two balls to spare.

One-Day International: Rohit Sharma guided India to a three-wicket win over West Indies in the third one-day international to give the tourists an unassailable series lead after a brilliant innings from Andre Russell had given the hosts a chance in Antigua.

Sharma struck 86 not out from 81 balls to see India past their 226 victory target with 22 balls to spare, ably assisted by Praveen Kumar (25 no) for the final flourish after decent contributions from Parthiv Patel (46) and Harbhajan Singh (41).

A career-best unbeaten 92 from 64 balls by man-of-the-match Russell had helped the West Indies recover from 96-7 to post a reasonably respectable 225-8.

Batting at No 9, Russell produced a brilliant innings which included eight fours and five sixes – with 35 runs coming in the last two overs.

Already 2-0 down in the five-match series, the hosts slumped from 65-1 to 96-7 following India’s decision to field. Russell and Carlton Baugh (36) got them back on track with an eighth-wicket partnership of 78 to ensure India faced a much more testing target than had looked likely after 30 overs.