Certainly he looked jaded at first until a break of 58 gave him the fourth frame and he then lived off the scraps Higgins threw him.James Wattana, who appears to be getting better the longer the tournament lasts, was faced by more substantial fare at the table and tucked in for a 5-3 advantage over the 1991 champion, John Parrott. It was not Wattana at his best but Parrott was hardly flowing either.”After I lost in the first round of the British Open I didn’t pick up a cue again,” Parrott said after beating Anthony Hamilton in the second round. “It’s the non-practice approach to the World Championship as opposed to practising seven hours a day and turning up in Sheffield exhausted.” You can safely assume he was practising last night in readiness for this afternoon’s resumption.. Lancashire’s desire for success away from the one-day arena may become more acute fairly quickly after their grip on the Benson and Hedges Cup was loosened by Yorkshire, who avenged last season’s nail-biting semi- final defeat by a surprisingly comfortable margin yesterday. The holders, who lost Glen Chapple with a dislocated knuckle sustained in the field, will need to show considerable improvement against Derbyshire today if they are not to find themselves looking in other directions for silverware even before April is out.
The injury to the fast bowler, who will have an operation today, may have been a factor in that Lancashire had planned to use him as their pinch-hitter. His absence could not possibly excuse the result, given the modesty of their target.Lancashire, their resources already depleted by the absence of their captain, Mike Watkinson, capitalised on Yorkshire’s early-season rustiness, dismissing them for 203 with two overs to spare.

But the efforts of Peter Martin, who pressed his case for an England recall with 3 for 31, and the others were undermined by a unusually feeble reply from the home side’s one-day specialist batsmen, who fell well short of their target.Michael Atherton was especially subdued, taking 20 overs in making 15, and even Neil Fairbrother’s unbeaten 64 lacked the left-hander’s customary gusto. It was Lancashire’s first defeat in the competition for three years.Chris Silverwood, who claimed Atherton’s wicket via a catch to cover, took the Gold Award, finishing with 3 for 22. His dismissal of Ian Austin, ending a dangerous 67-run partnership with Fairbrother for the fifth wicket, was a pivotal moment.Important blows were struck also by Peter Hartley, who dismissed Jason Gallian and John Crawley in his first two overs, and Darren Gough, who produced a peach of a delivery to remove the in-form Graham Lloyd.In the morning, Martyn Moxon and David Byas, who had guided Yorkshire to 43 without loss before Monday’s rain, extended their partnership to 69 before Martin sent back both in consecutive overs.Yorkshire’s subsequent efforts seemed disappointing, without the knowledge that they would prove enough in the end. No one came up with an innings of real substance and the decision to omit their Australian import, Darren Lehmann, on the grounds of a lack of practice, looked likely to backfire badly. In the event, Michael Vaughan’s 45, an innings of no great fluency, assumed much value.. Graeme Archer recorded his first one-day century to steer Nottinghamshire to a five-wicket victory over Durham in the Benson and Hedges Cup at Trent Bridge yesterday.

Archer’s unbeaten 111 saw his side home with three balls to spare after they had added 137 for victory off 24 overs when the game resumed yesterday. Archer had support from Paul Pollard (38) in a fourth-wicket stand of 83 chasing Durham’s 230 for 5. Archer reached his hundred with a six off Alan Walker, while all-rounder Chris Tolley hit a brisk 23 in an unbroken sixth- wicket stand of 49.
A century from Chris Adams was the cornerstone of Derbyshire’s six-wicket victory over the Minor Counties at Lakenham. Derbyshire, replying to the Minors’ 256 for 7, eased home with 11 balls to spare.Derbyshire were 166 for 2 off 32 overs at the start of the day and lost Dean Jones for 35 at 214 for 3. But Adams, resuming on 95, went on to make 138 off only 123 balls when he was finally caught behind off the bowling of Stewart Laudat.. Aravinda de Silva became the first batsman in Test history to score two unbeaten centuries in a match to put Sri Lanka in a winning position against Pakistan in the second and final Test yesterday. De Silva followed his 138 not out with an unbeaten 103 to allow Sri Lanka to set Pakistan 426 to win the match and the series.
Chaminda Vaas then dispatched openers Ramiz Raja for nought and Salim Elahi for 14 to leave Pakistan in trouble.De Silva’s batting has dominated the short series in which he has made three consecutive hundreds.