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Hildreth ton overshadows Pietersen

Cricinfo staff

May 2, 2008

	Losing return: Kevin Pietersen was in the runs for Hampshire, but was outdone by a century from James Hildreth © PA Photos

North Division

Derbyshire held on for a notable one-run win against defending champions Durham at Derby, although Ben Harmison and last-man Neil Killeen almost engineered a terrific fight back when Killeen was run out by Rikki Clarke off the final ball trying to level the scores. At 147 for 7, needing more than a run-a-ball, Durham appeared out of contention, but the lower order chipped away at the target while Harmison held firm to set up the thriller. Phil Mustard (45) gave the chase a positive start before the batting fell away to Graham Wagg and Charl Langeveldt. Derbyshire's total was mainly due to an opening stand of 132 from Chris Rogers (72) and Steve Stubbings (52) and although the middle order failed to capitalise against a strong Durham attack they had just enough. The match was twice delayed by the setting sun, a common problem at the ground because of the East-West facing pitch.

South/West Division

Kevin Pietersen's return to action wasn't enough to inspire Hampshire as they went down by six wickets to Somerset at The Rose Bowl as he was overshadowed by an unbeaten 90-ball 112 from James Hildreth, one of the rising talents in the game. Pietersen cracked 62 off 59 balls and Sean Ervine 55 off 36 deliveries, but Somerset had few problems chasing the runs down despite being without Justin Langer and the loss of stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick for 1. Hildreth added 159 for the third wicket with Zander de Bruyn (79) and he ensured a minor wobble against Greg Lamb's offspin was nothing more than a blip as the winning runs came with nine balls to spare. Hampshire were handicapped when Shane Bond limped off after five overs with a calf strain.

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