Andrew Hall rolled back the years to deliver a polished performance with bat and ball, but it wasn’t enough to get Northants over the line. Gareth Stevens reports.

Northamptonshire’s shortened Royal London One-Day Cup match against Derbyshire in Northampton was settled by the D/L method on Monday. Derbyshire elected to bat first and posted 211-6 in their 32 overs. The hosts could have been chasing far more if it wasn’t for their veteran all-rounder Andrew Hall, who claimed 3-39 in his seven overs.

The response to the revised target of 227 got off to a promising start as Richard Levi scored 62 at almost a run-a-ball. His departure saw a middle-order collapse, with Hall’s 43 off 30 deliveries the only other significant contribution. Despite the former Protea’s all-round effort, Northants were restricted to 220-9 and suffered a six-run defeat.

On Sunday, Sussex eased to a seven-wicket win also on the D/L method over Somerset at Taunton. The visitors won the toss and inserted Somerset, who managed 193-8 in their allotted 33 overs. The competitive score was built on the back of Colin Ingram‘s 72 off 74 balls, but when the left-hander was run out attempting to come back for a risky second after tickling the ball down to fine leg, the innings tapered out. The Warriors batsmen has enjoyed a consistent start to the One-Day Cup, but he is yet to play a match winning innings.

The target was revised to 189 and Sussex took one step closer to a quarter final spot as they knocked off the runs with four overs to spare. Somerset’s attack looked toothless as the usually dependable duo of Alfonso Thomas and Tim Groenewald had an off day. They both went wicketless as Thomas conceded 29 runs off his five overs, while Groenewald leaked 48 off six.

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