Hooper skippers victorious Lancs

MANCHESTER: With ex-West Indies captain Carl Hooper as their current skipper, Lancashire won an extraordinary National League Division One limited overs match against Warwickshire with a Dinesh Mongia century and six penalty runs at Old Trafford on Tuesday. Sent to bat, Warwickshire posted a challenging 251 for five off their 45 overs, and Lancashire secured victory at 255 for eight off 44 overs in the day/night fixture to go joint top of the standings.

Warwickshire captain Nick Knight hit a compelling 122 off 116 balls with nine fours and two sixes for Warwickshire against England pacer Dominic Cork (2-45). Hooper finished with none for 33 off six overs. When the eventual cut-off time of 10.25 p.m. arrived, Warwickshire were bowling the third ball of the 44th over with Lancashire requiring eight runs to win. The addition of six penalty runs, because Warwickshire were one over short at the cut-off time, were then added to Lancashire’s score, and the remaining two runs needed came from two singles at the end of the over.