Malan century dents Gloucestershire hopes

Middlesex 206 for 5 (Malan 113*) beat Gloucestershire 186 for 9 (Klinger 46, Harris 3-30) by 19 runs D/L
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Dawid Malan's unbeaten 113, backed up by an impressive bowling display, earned Middlesex a 19-run Duckworth-Lewis win against Gloucestershire at Lord's which keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-finals.

Gloucestershire's own chances of making it out of Group C received a heavy blow as they could make only 186 for 9 in reply to Middlesex's 206 for 5.

A short shower, which interrupted the early part of the Middlesex innings, led to the match becoming a 38-over per side affair, with Gloucestershire's target being adjusted to 206 under the Duckworth-Lewis calculations.

Malan underpinned the Middlesex batting effort with his first hundred of a prolific YB40 season, facing 116 balls and hitting two sixes and nine fours in taking his run tally for the competition to 552 at an average of 78.85.

Eoin Morgan, unusually becalmed as he laboured through 48 balls, was Middlesex's next best scorer with 22 and at the halfway stage it seemed as if Gloucestershire, joint top of Group C when the match began with 13 points from their previous nine games, were well in contention. But Steven Finn and James Harris both snatched wickets in their opening overs and by the time they had finished their five-over new balls spells Gloucestershire's batsmen were already struggling to keep up with the required rate.

Finn, given fresh hope of an England Test return next week by news of Tim Bresnan's stress fracture injury, had Hamish Marshall caught at point from the first ball of the innings, and then Harris pulled off a smart return catch to remove Chris Dent for 2. Much depended on Gloucestershire captain Michael Klinger, whose 46 took his own YB40 run tally to 575 at 95.83, and for a while he was well supported by Ian Cockbain in a stand of 81 for the third wicket.

But Cockbain then skied to mid-off, charging at Gareth Berg's medium pace, and Klinger - who had also been dropped on 13 and 19 - was stumped as he went down the pitch to try to heave a ball from left-arm spinner Ravi Patel into the Grandstand.

Patel then had Alex Gidman leg before wicket for 19 and Harris returned to bowl James Fuller for just 1. Benny Howell straight drove Toby Roland-Jones for six and swung him for another maximum next ball, but on 39 his bright effort ended with a skied catch to extra cover off the impressive Harris, who finished with 3 for 30.

There were also two wickets for Roland-Jones as Gloucestershire's late order swung with increasing desperation, with Gareth Roderick going for 13 and Ed Young for 12.

Malan was the only Middlesex batsman to get on top of some disciplined but largely unthreatening Gloucestershire bowling, with slow left-armer Young perhaps the pick of the attack with some clever variations of pace.

Paul Stirling fell to the first ball of the second over, inside-edging a drive into his stumps against Craig Miles, but Malan added 51 in just under 10 overs with Joe Denly for the second wicket before Denly was caught at extra cover for 21 from a leading edge as he looked to force medium-pacer Howell straight.

Morgan looked completely out of touch on a two-paced pitch, struggling through 45 balls for a mere 15 runs before lofting Miles over long-on for six for what proved to be his only boundary. On 22, and having been very much the junior partner in a stand of 65 with Malan, he tried a big hit at Chris Dent's occasional left-arm spin and skied to Klinger to end a curiously subdued innings from one of cricket's most destructive one-day batsmen.

Neil Dexter did manage to increase the scoring rate with 20 from 21 balls, helping Malan to put on a further 58 in eight overs for the fourth wicket, but he then mishit to point trying to slash away a ball from left-arm seamer David Payne.

Gareth Berg fell cheaply, bowled for three by Fuller, but Malan celebrated reaching his first YB40 century of the season by swinging Payne for six over the long deep midwicket boundary and, in the final over of the innings from Fuller, he added a second six to the same area. With John Simpson also taking a four from Fuller's last over, Middlesex's total was pushed above 200.

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Joyce century keeps Notts waiting

Sussex 293 for 6 (Joyce 123*, Shahzad 3-49) beat Nottinghamshire 290 for 5 (Hales 101, Hatchett 3-65) by four wickets
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Nottinghamshire missed the chance to seal their place in the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Bank 40 after Sussex reached a daunting target of 291 to win by four wickets at Hove. They were led to victory by skipper Ed Joyce who carried his bat for an unbeaten 123, the 13th one-day hundred of his career.

Opener Alex Hales made 101 and David Hussey 82 as Nottinghamshire plundered 105 off the last 10 overs to post a formidable total of 290 for 5.

But Luke Wright and Joyce launched the reply with 112 off 13 overs and even when Wright fell for 62, Matt Machan, whose 51 came off just 28 balls, maintained the momentum. Sussex wobbled briefly towards the end of their chase before they got home with nine balls to spare.

Nottinghamshire now need to beat Kent at Canterbury in their final game on August 26 to make sure of their place in the last four. If they lose Northamptonshire, who are a point behind them in Group C, will go through instead if they win their last match against Warwickshire in Birmingham.

Notts made a bad start after winning the toss and batting first. Michael Lumb was lbw to the third ball of the innings from Lewis Hatchett and the same bowler picked up a second wicket in the third over. James Taylor, who played for Sussex last month as a guest against Australia, was superbly caught low down by Chris Jordan at slip to leave Notts 11 for 2.

But that was Sussex's last success for 16 overs as Hales and Samit Patel rebuilt the innings with a stand of 102 before Chris Liddle had Patel caught on the long-leg boundary off a slog-sweep for 43. Hales reached his 50 off 43 balls with his sixth boundary and went to his fourth List A hundred off a further 44 deliveries with 11 fours and a pulled six off Jordan. Two balls after reaching three figures he was superbly caught by Rory Hamilton-Brown running in from the long-on boundary.

Hussey had been dropped on 17 at short cover by Mike Yardy and he made the most of the reprieve, adding 81 in 45 balls with Riki Wessels as he finished undefeated on 82 from 64 balls with seven fours and a six.

A score of 290 should have been defended but Notts bowled poorly from the start and Sussex had 71 on the board at the end of the eight-over Power play. Wright, who made 114 on Tuesday against Netherlands was soon into his stride as he reached 50 from 33 balls and it was a surprise when he fell in the 13th over to a catch on the mid-wicket boundary after making 62 from 49 balls with three sixes and four fours.

He had given Sussex the perfect platform and Machan was soon taking Notts' attack apart, reaching his half-century from just 25 balls. He was caught at short fine-leg off Hussey for 51 but Sussex needed 83 from 17 overs at that stage and Joyce was in no mood to let the advantage slip.

There was a brief wobble when the Sharks lost four wickets for 26 in seven overs and things might have been different had Patel not spilled a straightforward chance at extra cover when Joyce was on 108. But Will Beer joined him to contribute an unbeaten 20 and sealed victory with a six off Jake Ball. Joyce's 123 - his second one-day hundred of the season - came off 109 balls with 16 boundaries.

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Ervine stays cool to lead Hants home

Hampshire 220 for 7 (Ervine 65*) beat Surrey 219 for 9 (Ansari 62) by three wickets
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Sean Ervine guided holders Hampshire an important step nearer a place in the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-finals with an unbeaten 65 as Surrey were beaten by three wickets with eight balls to spare at the Ageas Bowl.

Hampshire still have two Group B matches left in which to be sure of contesting the last four of the competition but they had to overcome a shaky start before finally defeating Surrey's brave challenge.

The two teams meet again in the semi-finals of the Friends Life t20 at Edgbaston on Saturday with Hampshire, also the holders, choosing the right time and place to confirm their superiority in one-day competitions.

At one stage Hampshire looked like losing when they were 128 for 6 in the 28th over, chasing 220 for victory, and it was then that Zimbabwean Ervine proved his worth in a match-winning stand of 71 for the seventh wicket with his captain Dimitri Mascarenhas, who is in his last season with the club.

Ervine and Mascarenhas took the score to 199 in the 37th over before Mascarenhas holed-out to Tim Linley but Chris Wood joined Ervine in striking some telling blows as Hampshire made light of the remainder of their target. Ervine made his runs off 63 balls and struck nine fours as Hampshire eased home, but there had been plenty of scares along the way before they could be sure of their eighth win in 10 group fixtures.

Surrey, put into bat, made an inauspicious start, losing their first four batsmen for 39, two of them to Mascarenhas, while all-rounder Ervine reduced Surrey to 79 for five when he removed Gary Wilson in the 19th over.

Surrey managed to put together a competitive 219 for 9 only because of two major stands, of 66 for the sixth wicket between Rory Burns and Zafar Ansari and 53 for the seventh between Ansari and Linley. Ansari provided the backbone to Surrey's total by making 62 in an innings which included a six off Liam Dawson and five fours while Sohail Tanvir, Mascarenhas and Wood each took two wickets for Hampshire.

Hampshire have relied heavily on their opening pair of James Vince and Michael Carberry in one-day matches this season but within eight balls both were out, Carberry caught behind to Chris Tremlett's third ball of the innings and Vince caught and bowled by Jon Lewis to the eighth.

Neil McKenzie and Jimmy Adams began a rally with a stand of 55 for the third wicket but at the halfway point, Hampshire were struggled to keep up with the run rate at 68 for four, still needing 152 at more than seven an over.

Dawson began the Hampshire acceleration with a brisk 40 only for Adam Wheater to be run out the ball after Dawson had been bowled by Zander de Bruyn, reducing Hampshire to 128 for 6. It was then that durable veterans Ervine and Mascarenhas came together, taking control of the bowling and using the experience accumulated over many years of just such situations to see Hampshire home.

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Durham fall at the feet of Madsen

Derbyshire 217 for 8 (Johnson 58) beat Durham 110 (Wainwright 4-11) by 107 runs
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Durham's hopes of reaching the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-finals were all but ended when Derbyshire skipper Wayne Madsen inspired his team to a crushing 107-run victory in Group B under the County Ground floodlights.

Madsen made 37 and shared a century stand with Richard Johnson as Derbyshire made 217 for 8 before he ambushed Durham with his off-spin to take 3 for 27 - his best figures in any form of cricket - as the visitors collapsed on a slow, turning Derby pitch.

Durham never recovered after Madsen reduced them to 62 for 4 and David Wainwright took a limited-overs career-best 4 for 11 to send the visitors crashing to 110 all out in the 29th over as Derbyshire ended a run of four defeats to Durham this season.

Durham had to win and started well against a weakened Derbyshire team missing Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Wes Durston, leaving their hosts in trouble on 36 for 3 in the ninth over. Mark Wood nibbled one away to have Ben Slater caught behind for six in the fourth over and after Chesney Hughes pulled Wood for six, he tried to repeat the shot against Chris Rushworth and holed out to deep midwicket for 24.

Derbyshire were struggling when Wood had Paul Borrington caught at gully but Madsen joined Johnson in a stand that put the Falcons back in the match. Johnson had a lucky escape when he was caught behind for 17 with the total on 61 but Ben Stokes had overstepped and that proved costly as the fourth-wicket pair worked the ball around to add 103 from 114 balls.

Madsen straight drove Gareth Breese for six and Johnson hit four fours in a 58-ball 50 before Paul Collingwood switched ends to remove them both in the 27th over. Madsen mistimed a pull and was caught at mid-on and three balls later, Collingwood cut one back to bowl Johnson but 22 from 15 balls by Tony Palladino and 25 extras lifted Derbyshire to a challenging total on a slow pitch.

It looked an even better when Madsen surprisingly opened with his occasional off-breaks and struck twice in a five-over spell that cost only 13 runs. Phil Mustard tried to cut a straight one and was bowled for a duck and Scott Borthwick pulled to deep-midwicket to put Durham on the back foot at 14 for 2.

Collingwood and Mark Stoneman added 46 in nine overs but it was not easy to force the pace and when Madsen returned at the Grandstand End, Stoneman was caught at long off for 25 when he tried to hit down the ground. It was impossible to keep Madsen out of the game and he took a simple catch in the next over when Collingwood pushed Tom Knight's left-arm spin to short extra-cover.

Knight struck another huge blow when he bowled the dangerous Stokes for nine and celebrated his best List A figures of 3 for 36 before Wainwright sealed victory with 11.4 overs remaining.

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Pietersen undergoes scan on knee

Kevin Pietersen has had a precautionary scan on his troublesome right knee but remains available for selection for the final Ashes Test at The Oval.

The ECB said the scan was part of the "ongoing monitoring process" Pietersen has been undergoing since the batsman returned from the tour of New Zealand with bone bruising in his knee. The problem ruled him out of the final Test in Auckland and the return series against New Zealand as well as the Champions Trophy.

The ECB statement added: "Kevin remains available for selection for the fifth Investec Ashes Test and will continue to receive treatment on his right knee as part of his rehabilitation programme over the course of remainder of the series and beyond."

With England 3-0 up in the Ashes there could be an opportunity to rest Pietersen even if, under other circumstances, he would be able to get through a Test, although Andy Flower, the team director, has already said he will be "fine". Flower previously confirmed that Pietersen would not be available to Surrey for the Friends Life t20 finals day on Saturday.

"He will be rested because of a couple of the niggles he has," Flower said on Tuesday. "I have spoken with [Surrey's interim coach] Alec Stewart about that. It would have been nice to have made him available but injuries have meant that he can't be. We're just resting his knee and calf.

"He has played four Test matches now and this is an opportunity to rest. We try to be as fair to the counties as possible and you might have noticed over the last couple of years that we do try and get them back with their counties where we can. It possibly happens more often than it used to six or seven years go. But in this instance we can't because of injury. He'll be fine for The Oval."

Pietersen was an injury doubt for the third Test at Old Trafford having picked up a calf strain at Lord's, but was passed fit and made a crucial 113 to help England avoid the follow-on and subsequently retain the Ashes in a rain-hit draw.

Speaking after his innings, Pietersen said he was an "old man" now and, following the Test, Flower said that the batsman would have to take extra care about looking after himself during the latter stage of his career. "He's in his early 30s - everything seems to hurt a bit more after long days and big innings," Flower said.

England will name their squad for the final Test on Saturday with the major decision being whether to rest James Anderson who has appeared jaded during the last couple of Tests. Graham Onions has suffered a broken finger which rules him out of contention but there could be a chance of Chris Tremlett, who has been part of the squad for the previous two Tests, being recalled on his home ground.

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Andy Pick hired as USACA High Performance Manager

The USA Cricket Association announced on Tuesday the appointment of former England Under-19 and Canada coach Andy Pick as USACA High Performance Manager in a move aimed at helping the USA form a more professional administrative cricket structure. Pick has been serving as the ICC Americas High Performance Manager since 2009 and will still be partially employed in that role as he splits his workload between the ICC Americas office in Toronto and USACA's headquarters in Florida.

"There is a lot of natural talent in the USA," Pick said in a USACA media release. "In the past, the pathway from talent discovery through to players becoming established international cricketers has not always been clear. Having been involved in high performance planning and delivery for the last 14 years, I hope I can make that pathway more accessible and transparent."

The official announcement of Pick's new role with USACA was hinted at through his more frequent appearances around USA teams and programmes in the past six months. In March, he was in Florida for USA's unofficial three-match 50-over series against Bermuda ahead of ICC WCL Division Three and was present as a sounding board during selection meetings to pick the squad that went to Bermuda a month later for the tournament.

In June, he organised and oversaw the inaugural USACA U-19 Selection Combine, which was designed as a new method to select USA's U-19 squad for the ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament. In the past, USACA had used domestic tournaments as a selection mechanism. Pick was in constant contact with USACA chief executive Darren Beazley while at the ICC Americas U-19 tournament and at the conclusion of the July event, he drove from Toronto to Miami to work with Beazley on a plan for the USA senior team to prepare them for the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in November.

"USACA is extremely pleased to have the support of an experienced cricket administrator such as Andy Pick to provide a dedicated focus on establishing the correct structures and processes to ensure USACA identifies and develops talent, wherever talented men and women reside across the country," Beazley said in the release. "His intimate knowledge of cricket in the USA and of our playing lists will be very important, particularly as our men's team commences preparation for the ICC T20 Qualifer in Dubai in November."

Pick has been a regular source of guidance and assistance to the USA through his ICC Americas position. In the winter of 2011, he spent time in New York and New Jersey organising weekly training courses for the region's junior players and coaches. He also set up a coaching clinic in March 2011 for the New York Public Schools Athletic League, the only high school cricket league in USA.

In April 2011, he organised a month-long training stint with reigning English county champions Nottinghamshire - where Pick played from 1983 to 1997 and also served as bowling coach - for USA players Muhammad Ghous and Adrian Gordon. Four months later, Pick and ICC Americas colleague Wendell Coppin conducted a 10-day training camp in Barbados for the USA Women's team to aid their preparation for the 2011 ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh.

In October 2010, Pick stated in an interview with ESPNcricinfo that he was impressed with the "abundance of natural talent" in the USA, but was worried that structures were not in place for proper development. "If I'm brutally honest, they have at the moment little framework beneath it to continue providing and developing their best players. That is part of my role, to try to work with the US to see if we can help rectify that situation." With his new role at USACA, Pick now has more control and authority to carry out that mission.

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Simon Jones' double sinks Middlesex

Glamorgan 153 for 9 (Roland-Jones 3-13) beat Middlesex 142 for 9 (Dexter 54, Cosker 3-32) by 11 runs
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Simon Jones took the wickets of Eoin Morgan and Adam Voges with consecutive balls as Glamorgan won their rain-affected Yorkshire Bank 40 Group C match against Middlesex by 11 runs in Cardiff.

It was their second win in three games - they beat Somerset on Monday - as they moved up to second place in the group, level on points with leaders Somerset with a game in hand.

Glamorgan lost the toss and made 153 for 9 in a match reduced to 25 overs per side, but Middlesex, who will struggle to now make the semi-finals, could only make 142 for nine despite skipper Neil Dexter scoring 54 from 52 balls.

Glamorgan made a fortuitous start when Gareth Rees top-edged Steven Finn for six in the first over but Finn got his revenge having Mark Wallace caught at point while at the other end James Harris delivered a tight three overs as the home side reached 31 for 1 after seven overs.

That became 38 for 3 after Toby Roland-Jones struck twice to remove Chris Cooke and skipper Marcus North. Jim Allenby's arrival saw some impetus injected into the Glamorgan innings as he took a four and a six off consecutive balls from Dexter, before Paul Stirling's part-time offspin claimed two wickets.

Allenby holed out on the midwicket boundary before Murray Goodwin top-edged a sweep to short fine leg as the Welsh county found themselves 85 for 5. Harris made that 89 for six as Rees was bowled making 32 from 53 balls.

Some much-needed impetus to the Glamorgan innings came with 14 coming off an Ollie Raynor over including a Ben Wright six over long off and 18 from an over from Harris.

The start of the batting power play saw Wright holing out to Finn ending a 43-run partnership with Wagg, who helped Glamorgan take 21 runs from the final three overs.

Middlesex struggled at the start of their reply. Allenby bowled Dawid Malan with the fifth ball of the Middlesex innings and a good Michael Hogan over saw Joe Denly edge behind to leave Middlesex 14 for 2 at the end of the fourth. Allenby struck again in the seventh over as Paul Stirling drove him straight to mid-off to Middlesex 30 for 3.

And Jones turned the game right in Glamorgan's favour with two wickets in consecutive balls to leave Middlesex 32 for five in the eighth over. He got the prize wicket of Morgan with his third ball helped by a good catch by Cooke diving forward at cover and followed that up by trapping Voges lbw.

But Middlesex recovered through John Simpson and Dexter who put on 59 in nine overs until the impressive Simpson was snaffled at mid-wicket off Dean Cosker, who took three wickets from 11 balls as the Panthers found themselves 138 for 8.

Dexter, with the only half century in the match, got it down to 20 required from the final over but he holed out to the second ball of the final over.

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Fawad Ahmed named in Australia ODI squad

Fawad Ahmed is expected to make his long-awaited debut for Australia during the limited-overs series that follows the Ashes after being named in an 18-man squad at the expense of Xavier Doherty. Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has also been included and should play his first ODIs in three years, while Doherty and the allrounder Mitchell Marsh were the only players dropped from the squad that contested the Champions Trophy in June.

The most fascinating inclusion is that of Ahmed, a legspinner who arrived in Australia in 2010 as an asylum seeker from Pakistan, where he had played ten first-class games over four years. Ahmed impressed for Victoria during the 2012-13 season and his Australian citizenship was fast-tracked this year in an effort to make him available for the Ashes, although he was ultimately not chosen in the Test squad.

But Australia's selectors remain keen on Ahmed as an international option and have been impressed by his bowling during the ongoing Australia A tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa. Although Ahmed has collected only two wickets in the five one-day games on the tour, the selectors believe he has bowled better than his figures indicate, and he will be the lead spinner alongside allrounder Glenn Maxwell in the limited-overs games in England.

"Fawad Ahmed gets his opportunity as the squad's lead spinner," the national selector John Inverarity said. "Fawad has been a consistent wicket-taker on the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa. He is a mature and very good leg-spin bowler, and the national selection panel is keen to see how he fares in international competition ... He has been bowling very well in South Africa and turning the ball and troubling the batsmen so we're keen to have a look at him.

"He takes Xavier Doherty's place. Xavier has been a fine performer for Australia over the years. We haven't selected the side for India, for the seven ODIs there in October, but it's likely that both players will be on that tour. He [Doherty] is very much a known quantity and he's a wonderful young man and a very good cricketer. He can be hopeful that further opportunities will come his way."

The 18-man squad will gather for the two Twenty20s against England that follow the Ashes and the group will then be trimmed to 15 for the one-off ODI against Scotland and five against England in September. While Mitchell Marsh was replaced by Steven Smith after having limited impact in the Champions Trophy, his brother Shaun was included and is likely to play in the T20s, but whether he remains part of the squad for the ODIs is unclear.

The same can be said of Aaron Finch, who has been captain of Australia A during the African tour, while the rest of the batting line-up was largely as expected. However, there was no place for Nic Maddinson, the young New South Wales batsman who has played a number of eye-catching innings for Australia A in the British Isles and Africa over the past couple of months, including a remarkable 181 from 143 balls against Gloucestershire in Bristol.

"While he hasn't been selected in this squad, the national selection panel also notes the strong performances of Nic Maddinson in recent months for Australia A," Inverarity said. "We look forward to him continuing to build on that good form and pressing his claims for higher honours in the future."

The pace attack will be led by the experienced Mitchell Johnson and Clint McKay, but also features younger talent including Nathan Coulter-Nile, who made his T20 international debut in February, and Hazlewood, who also reappeared in the national side via February's T20 against West Indies. Hazlewood, 22, made his ODI debut in England in 2010 but has always been regarded by the selectors as a player to watch.

"We're looking forward to him showing his wares in international cricket again," Inverarity said. "He made his debut for Australia in 2010 at the age of 19. Three years later he's a stronger young man and a better bowler. He has been very impressive with his form in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

"I've been talking with Andy Bichel, who's the selector on duty in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and Josh has been very impressive, has bowled with good pace and good accuracy and has been moving the ball. I think it's the right time for him to come through and join the international squad."

Squad Michael Clarke (ODI capt), George Bailey (T20 capt), Fawad Ahmed, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Phillip Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Shane Watson.

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Record stand revives England

Australia 331 for 6 dec and 64 for 1 lead England 314 (Knight 157, Marsh 55, Osborne 4-67) by 81 runs
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Heather Knight made her first Test century as England continued their dogged rearguard action well into the third day at Wormsley. Knight's 157 from 338 balls was the seventh-highest Test score by an England woman and she was joined by the equally obdurate Laura Marsh in a stand of 156 - England's best for the seventh wicket and one run shy of the Test record - that went a long way to staving off the threat of defeat to Australia.

With six points on offer in these multi-format Ashes, the incentive to win was clear and evinced by Jodie Fields' decision to declare with her team six down on the second day. But with the prospect of defeat coming at such a price - a draw will give each side two points - England have knuckled down in an attempt to make sure they don't lose. Australia had extended their lead to 81 by reaching 64 for 1 by the close, making a draw the most likely result.

Resuming on a perilous 172 for 6, still 149 runs behind, Knight and Marsh forged on in the same manner in which they had gone about their business on the on previous evening. The pair soaked up 73 overs of pressure before Knight was run out after being sent back looking for a single.

Knight was dropped on 105, wicketkeeper Fields missing a chance down the leg side, but by then she had long-since surpassed her previous best innings, in her only other Test, of 19. She hit 20 fours in all and was particularly strong off her pads in making the third-highest individual total for England against Australia.

Marsh, 13 from 114 balls at the start of the day, had progressed to 35 when she lost her partner and Katherine Brunt, who hit her first ball for four, went soon after. But Danielle Hazell stuck around for another 20 overs as Marsh went to her first Test half-century, eventually facing 304 balls for her 55. By the time Australia claimed the final wicket, Erin Osborne finishing with 4 for 67, the deficit was just 17.

"I'm really pleased, I think when I went in we were pretty up against it," Marsh said. "I was just really pleased to be able to hang in there with Heather and support her.

"It was the job the team needed and I tried to stick in there and be disciplined with my decision-making. It was really helpful to have Heather at the other end for the vast amount of the time I was there because she just played brilliantly and we kept each other going.

"I tried to be positive in defence and approach it that way and pick up runs when they became available."

With a slim lead and a potentially tricky couple of hours to negotiate amid rain showers, Australia's openers began at a similarly watchful pace, reaching 40 before Jenny Gunn removed Rachael Haynes. First-innings centurion Sarah Elliott accompanied Meg Lanning safely to the close but it will take something special from the usually attacking Fields to force a result.

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Napier, ten Doeschate down Durham

Essex 139 for 4 (ten Doeschate 74*) beat Durham 138 (Smith 53, Napier 5-21) by six wickets
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Essex maintained their hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Bank 40 competition after crushing Durham by six wickets at Chelmsford. The hosts got home with 13.3 overs to spare, successfully chasing down Durham's meagre 138 all out.

Ryan ten Doeschate and Ravi Bopara made light of the task with a fourth-wicket partnership of 94 in 18 overs before the latter departed for 38. Ten Doeschate completed his side's emphatic victory with an unbeaten 74 spanning 64 balls and featuring two sixes and eight fours.

The visitors started the match at the head of Group B but struggled against a wonderful exhibition of pace bowling from Graham Napier. The Essex allrounder took 5 for 21, including a devastating spell of four wickets for one run in 2.2 overs at the start of the innings, as Durham sank to 9 for 4 after 4.2 overs.

Mark Stoneman, Scott Borthwick and Paul Collingwood all failed to score as Napier ran amok. He removed Stoneman with his second delivery of the match and three balls later found an edge as Borthwick pushed forward to give James Foster one of his three catches. Former England batsman Collingwood failed to dig out a yorker while Phil Mustard reached just nine before he became another Napier casualty.

Will Smith made a gallant effort to sustain the innings with a 73-ball half-century that included five boundaries, and he found useful support from Gareth Breese with the pair adding 55 in 11 overs for the seventh wicket. Breese was bowled by ten Doeschate and soon after Smith drove Tymal Mills to Bopara at mid-off as Durham's innings ending as ignominiously as it had started with the loss of three wickets for one run.

Bowled out in 34.1 overs, the visitors did have some early impetus when Essex started their reply as they captured three wickets for 30 runs in 11 overs. Hamish Rutherford edged Mark Wood to slip in the first over, Mark Pettini was pinned in front of his stumps by Chris Rushworth three overs later and Greg Smith played down the wrong line and was bowled by Wood.

But Bopara and Ten Doeschate soon steadied matters as they composed their match-winning stand. When Bopara became a second victim for Rushworth, only 15 more runs were required and ten Doeschate duly completed the win to send Essex into Twenty20 Finals day on Saturday in good heart.

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