Hants keep Pro40 dream alive

For a while, it looked as though the Ali brothers might deliver the knockout blows to Hampshire's Pro40 title hopes.

Worcestershire batsman Moeen Ali, a Championship debutant against Hampshire at Kidderminster last week, hit a sparkling 100 from just 49 balls on the same ground as the Pro40 favourites beat Northants.

That meant Hampshire, the only county that can catch Worcestershire, had to win to keep their hopes alive.

But Gloucestershire batsman Kadeer Ali, Moeen's older brother by four years, looked like ending Hampshire's interest and giving his 20-year-old sibling more reason to celebrate when he was making a 116-ball 114, which included 12 fours and the only six of the match, a straight hit in Billy Taylor's first over.

Who knows, if he had not needed a runner to help him bat with cramp after limping to his 96th run, his innings may have been enough to hand Worcestershire the title.

Gloucestershire were 191-3 in the 30th over, chasing 275 to win, when the heat became too much for Kadeer.

The 24-year-old dropped his bat as he attempted a quick single against Sean Ervine before collapsing into the crease at the bowler's end.

Kadeer, a former pupil at Paul Terry's academy in Perth, received treatment for several minutes before Chris Taylor, who had been bowled in Ervine's previous over, returned to the fray as his runner.

Gloucestershire had looked well set when Kadeer and Hamish Marshall were putting on 162 in 25 overs but lost their first three wickets in four overs - with the veteran spin twins Shaun Udal and Shane Warne dismissing the Kiwi dangermen in successive overs - just before Kadeer's cramp set in.

The excellent Udal trapped Marshall (76) with the first ball of his sixth over and Warne's slider accounted for Craig Spearman.

Gloucestershire needed 83 from the last ten overs when captain Alex Gidman chopped an attempted pull on to his leg stump, and when Warne hit the top of Kadeer's off peg with a trademark leg-break in his final over, the 36th, an unlikely 43 were required from four.

A Billy Taylor yorker with the penultimate ball of the penultimate over saw off Steve Adshead and left Gloucestershire needing 25 from the final over.

It was by no means impossible.

Nic Pothas and Shane Warne had ended Hampshire's innings with 19 runs off the final over from Lewis and were given another boost when six crucial penalty runs were added for Gloucestershire's failure to bowl their 40 overs in the allocated two hours, 40 minutes.

But Ervine kept his head after Mark Hardinges drove the first ball of the final over to the extra-cover boundary to ensure a 14-run win in front of a bumper 6,000 Rose Bowl crowd.

Ervine had helped centurion Chris Benham lay the foundations by putting on 141 in 20 overs for the second wicket.

Benham survived three third-umpire referrals, which cannot have helped Gloucestershire's over-rate, on 38, 58 and 82 and should have been caught by Kiwi Marshall at gully in Jon Lewis's second over, when he had made four.

But he ended a poor run of form with a match-winning 111 (105 balls, ten fours).

Before yesterday, Benham was averaging 15.5 in one-day cricket since his memorable 158 against Glamorgan in last season's Pro40 play-off at the Rose Bowl.

This time the presence of the Sky Sports cameras brought out the best in him again.

Third umpire Nigel Cowley gave him the benefit of the doubt when Gloucestershire appealed for stumpings after he had been tempted out of his crease by the slow left-arm of Ian Fisher.

He survived those either side of an attempted run out by Taylor at point when he wandered out of his crease shortly after reaching fifty (46 balls).

Benham needed a further 51 deliveries for his third one-day hundred for Hampshire and was eventually bowled as he attempted to hit Steve Kirby through mid-wicket.

Batting as a one-day opener for the first time since June, Benham relished his chance in the absence of John Crawley, who missed yesterday's match with the back spasm he suffered at Worcestershire last week.

Benham received excellent support from Ervine,with the left-hand/right-hand combination dovetailing to good effect.

After Lumb had nicked to first slip, Ervine struck a 70-ball 74, his fourth fifty in seven one-day innings.

He cracked 11 fours, including three in succession against Greenidge to set the tone, before splicing an attempted pull to mid-wicket.

Jimmy Adams weighed in with a 21-ball 20 and Michael Carberry a 20-ball 18 before Nic Pothas and Shane Warne took Hampshire to their biggest 40-over total since making 276 in an AXA League defeat against Surrey at Guildford in July 1997.

It proved to be enough to keep the Pro40 title race in the balance, but Worcestershire will be celebrating on Thursday if they beat Gloucestershire under the Bristol floodlights.

Hampshire will hope that Kadeer, and not Moeen, has the bragging rights in the Ali household at the end of the week.

That would give Hampshire the chance to pip Worcestershire to the title, providing they beat Lancashire, when the Pro40 competition concludes on Sunday.