NatWest T20 Blast: Gloucestershire, Northants secure wins

Hamish Marshall hit a 55-ball 90 to set Gloucestershire on their way to an 11-run victory over Sussex in the NatWest T20 Blast at Arundel Castle.

The Kiwi put on 120 with Ian Cockbain for the second wicket and a late cameo from Benny Howell saw Gloucestershire reach 184-4 from their 20 overs.

Ajmal Shahzad took career-best figures of 3-26 to restrict the visitors but Sussex's hopes of victory ended when skipper Luke Wright fell for 71.

Matt Machan blasted an 18-ball 31 to give the 6,000-plus crowd something to cheer as the Sharks finished on 173-9, Matt Taylor taking 3-29.

The result lifts Gloucestershire to second in the South Group while Sussex remain in fourth place.

Gloucestershire got off to a slow start after being put in to bat and losing influential skipper Michael Klinger in the second over when the Australian was trapped lbw by Shahzad for two.

The visitors were 28-1 after the opening five overs but then Marshall and Cockbain began to up the tempo.

The pair put on 120 in 75 balls with Marshall bringing up his 50 from 31 balls with six fours and a big six off leg-spinner Will Beer over mid-wicket.

Cockbain made 37 from 33 balls - including sixes off Danny Briggs and Twenty20 debutant George Garton - before being caught off a leading edge to give Briggs a solitary success.

Marshall followed for an excellent 90 when he cut Shahzad straight to Machan at point but the Gloucestershire innings did not lose any momentum after his departure.

Howell blasted three sixes in a 10-ball 23 - including two off new England call-up Tymal Mills - before becoming Shahzad's third victim in the final over as Gloucestershire set a testing target of 184-4.

Sussex made a positive start to the chase but lost opener Chris Nash for 13 when he top-edged an attempted sweep off Graeme van Buuren for 13.

The Sharks were 50-1 after the powerplay but suffered another blow when youngster Phil Salt was trapped lbw for 12 attempting to reverse-sweep Tom Smith.

Smith also pinned New Zealand international Ross Taylor in front for 16 which increased the responsibility on Wright's shoulders.

The Sussex skipper responded by bringing up his 50 from 38 balls and then launched Howell and Kieran Noema-Barnett for enormous sixes down the ground.

The game swung significantly back in Gloucestershire's favour, however, when Wright perished going for another maximum as he picked out the fielder on the midwicket boundary off Howell.

That left Sussex requiring 62 from the last five overs with two new men at the crease and it proved too tall a task despite Machan offering brief hope with three towering sixes.

Live NatWest T20 Blast Cricket

Meanwhile, Josh Cobb and Adam Rossington eased Northants Steelbacks back to the top of the NatWest T20 Blast North Group with a six-wicket win over Leicestershire at Wantage Road.

Chasing just 150 after Mark Pettini's 56 for the visitors, Cobb and Rossington knocked off the bulk of the chase with a partnership of 89 for the second wicket in 9.4 overs.

Northants cruised home and, with 11 points on the board, stand on the verge of a quarter-final place.

Richard Levi, in his first game back after a shoulder injury, took 12 from the opening over but edged Clint McKay to third man.

Rossington arrived in superb touch after a career-best 138 not out in the County Championship during the week and made his third T20 fifty and second for Northants in 29 balls with nine fours.

His timing was exceptional with some clean striking down the ground and also showed a clever touch with two late cut fours.

Rossington was bowled for exactly 50 by Mark Cosgrove and Ben Duckett fell to Cameron Delport for 20.

Cobb has relished the No 3 role and was again in excellent touch. He began by cutting Rob Taylor for his first boundary and he lifted another over mid-wicket en route to his third half-century in four innings before chipping Delport to extra-cover for 57 when two were needed to win.

Steven Crook and skipper Alex Wakely saw the hosts over the line with more than two overs to spare.

Leicestershire's total was well below par, with their 149-5 built around a partnership of 74 for the third wicket between Pettini and Kevin O'Brien.

Live NatWest T20 Blast Cricket

They recovered the innings after the early loss of Cosgrove for two and Delport for six - both bowled by Richard Gleeson, whose opening two overs conceded only seven runs.

But Pettini clipped the first ball of Azharullah's spell for six over mid-wicket - an over that yielded 17 runs and injected momentum into the innings.

Pettini swung Azharullah to long-leg and deftly cut Crook for four en route to a half-century in 31 balls with six fours and a six.

Cobb ended the stand with the second ball of his spell - O'Brien chipping him into the hands of Graeme White at long-on - and three overs later Pettini also fell, trying to paddle sweep White and only to depart lbw for 56.

Paul Horton, playing his first T20 of the season, was left to try and provide the late-innings power and he twice classically drove through extra-cover for four, but facing the first ball of the final over was struck in the ribs by a Gleeson beamer and retired hurt for 29.