West Indian Twenty20 star Kieron Pollard marked his Somerset debut by single-handedly destroying Middlesex under the lights at Lord's.

Pollard smashed seven sixes and as many fours in an unbeaten 89 off 45 balls, having already taken three for 26 with his medium pace, as Somerset chased down Middlesex's 155 for six to win the Friends Provident Twenty 20 clash by five wickets and with 13 balls to spare.

But it proved another unlucky night for Australian legend Adam Gilchrist, who fell to the 13th ball of the match - for a duck - after the Panthers won the toss and elected to bat first.

A tricky surface that assisted former Middlesex favourite Murali Kartik in particular made shot-making tough early on - as Gilchrist found. In aiming to push a drive straight past bowler Ben Phillips, he miscued to give a return catch.

A useful left-hand/right-hand partnership between Scott Newman (26) and Neil Dexter (29) took the hosts through to 46, some 20 of which came in one over of medium-pacers from Zander de Bruyn.

Dexter, who clubbed two fours and three sixes in his cameo 29, went in the ninth over to a looping catch at short mid-on by Marcus Trescothick off the bowling of another former Middlesex all-rounder, Peter Trego.

Newman followed him back to the pavilion two overs later when he drove on the up to Jos Buttler patrolling the extra cover boundary, bringing together Owais Shah and Eoin Morgan for an enterprising stand of 53.

Morgan raised the home 100 with a six into the Tavern Stand but Shah (24), having helped take 12 from Kartik's final over, clipped to deep mid-wicket to make it 121 for four.

In the quest for late runs, Gareth Berg (five) went when making room to an Alfonso Thomas yorker and Dawid Malan (eight) skied to mid-on off Pollard, leaving Morgan to nudge the scoring rate above seven with an impish unbeaten 48 from 30 balls.

The Sabres made a dismal start to their pursuit when England's Twenty20 World Cup winner Craig Kieswetter top-edged a towering catch to Gilchrist then Marcus Trescothick, with 20 from 15 balls, was run out to make it 25 for two after only four overs.

James Hildreth had turned a ball from Tim Murtagh toward mid-wicket and set off for a single but Trescothick was slow to respond, allowing Murtagh to follow through and throw down the stumps.

Somerset starlet Buttler (one) walked across his stumps in aiming an audacious flick over short fine leg only to have his stumps re-arranged by Pedro Collins.

When Hildreth (five), cutting hard at Murtagh, picked out Tom Smith at backward point to make it 31 for four, Middlesex scented victory - but Pollard had other ideas.

Though Trego was run out for 16, the all-rounder sacrificing his wicket when called through for a suicidal leg-bye to mid-wicket, Trinidad and Tobago star Pollard ensured the Sabres coasted home to their first win of this season's campaign in style.

Northamptonshire Steelbacks lost six wickets for 15 runs in 26 balls as they suffered an 89-run T20 defeat against Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford.

The visitors had been 42 for one in the sixth over as they replied to Lancashire's 157 for five, but slumped to 57 for seven in the 10th.

Glen Chapple and Simon Kerrigan claimed two wickets apiece in the spell as the likes of Mal Loye, Andrew Hall and Nicky Boje all fell.

Left-arm spinner Kerrigan finished with three for 17 from four overs as the visitors were bowled out for just 88 with 13 balls of their innings remaining.

The hosts, boosted by Tom Smith's career best 67 off 47 balls, have now won both their North Division matches.

Lancashire, who elected to bat, reached 50 after eight overs for the loss of Paul Horton before Smith reached his second 50 in Twenty20 matches off 32 balls.

The left-hander, who hit 44 in his side's opening night win at Durham last Friday, later scooped Chaminda Vaas for four but was dismissed next ball as he was stumped off a Vaas wide to leave the score at 101 for two in the 15th over.

He was soon followed back to the pavilion by Simon Katich (26) when he was bowled through the gate by the Sri Lankan.

Smith and Katich had shared 69 for the second wicket in 10 overs but Stephen Moore and Steven Croft kept the innings motoring as they united for an entertaining fourth-wicket partnership.

Croft had a bit of luck as he was bowled off a Hall no-ball on 17 in the 18th and completed the captain's misery when he holed out to deep square leg off the ensuing free hit.

The pair put on 39 in less than four overs before Croft (19) presented Vaas with his third wicket when he found Nicky Boje at deep mid-wicket.

Vaas, the pick of the Northants bowling, ended with figures of three for 32 from his four overs, while Moore finished 27 not out off 16 balls.

Northants openers Loye and Lou Vincent, the club's stand-in overseas signing, took the score to 23 after two overs of their reply.

Vincent, who spent the latter half of the 2008 season at Old Trafford, has signed for the Steelbacks for 10 days until Zimbabwean Elton Chigumbura arrives.

But he was on his way back for nine when he slapped Sajid Mahmood straight to Katich at point in the third over.

Ex-Red Rose favourite Loye nailed two switch hits for four off Kerrigan in the second over and made 22 off 16 balls.

But he was the first of the six wickets to fall in quick succession when he was well caught by Moore at mid-wicket off Chapple. Hall fell in the same over, Alex Wakely was bowled by Stephen Parry and Boje run out by Mark Chilton.

Kerrigan then had Paul Harrison caught behind and Vaas caught at mid-wicket in the 10th over before O'Brien (19) reverse swept him to Chilton at short third man to leave the score at 69 for eight in the 12th.

Parry (two for 12 from four overs) and Croft added further wickets to end the contest.

Title holders Sussex chalked up their third successive win of the T20 South Group by edging a tense local derby against Kent by four wickets and with only two balls remaining in Tunbridge Wells.

Visiting skipper Michael Yardy pulled a slower-ball bouncer from Azhar Mahmood to the ropes at deep backward square to spark a pitch invasion from a near-6,000 crowd at the Royal Spa Town club ground.

Chasing Kent's workmanlike if unspectacular total of 163 for five, Sussex made the best of starts through Kiwi Brendon McCullum and Matt Prior, who raced to 55 inside eight overs before the Spitfires finally struck.

McCullum, on 16 from 19 balls and with three fours, clipped one from James Tredwell high to deep mid-wicket where Joe Denly ran round from long-on to take the catch.

Denly and Tredwell, who bagged two for 32, combined again in near-identical fashion to account for Murray Goodwin (nine) then Prior, having hit seven fours and a six from 34 balls, missed out on his 50 by three runs when mistiming a drive against Darren Stevens to be snaffled at short mid-wicket.

Luke Wright misread one from wrist spinner Malinga Bandara to be bowled for 21 and with five overs remaining Sussex required a further 44 with six wickets in hand.

Bandara also struck in his final over to finish with two for 34. Drawing Chris Nash down the pitch, he turned one through the gate to peg back off stump and send the right-hander packing for a useful 24 from 11 balls.

Joe Gatting (eight) fell in the penultimate over but, with only four needed from the final over, Yardy wrapped up a man-of-the-match display by hitting the winning blow to finish unbeaten on 36 from 23 balls.

After playing out a maiden from Robin Martin-Jenkins' first over of the game, Kent lost their first wicket in the seamer's second over, Denly bowled for five when he heaved across the line.

Rob Key joined forces with Martin van Jaarsveld to add 47 for the second wicket inside six overs but then Key (23), in aiming to run a quicker delivery from Yardy down to third man for a single, missed the ball and dragged his back foot to be smartly stumped by Andrew Hodd.

South African van Jaarsveld also chipped and chased his way to 23, never appearing comfortable on a two-paced pitch.

He finally hoisted Chris Nash to long-on where England keeper Prior - playing as an outfielder, like New Zealand counterpart McCullum - ran around the boundary edge and knocked the ball up before taking the catch at the second attempt.

Kent formed a useful alliance between Geraint Jones (32) and the in-form Stevens, who again top-scored for the hosts with an unbeaten 52 - having scored 197 here in last week's championship fixture against Nottinghamshire.

The fourth-wicket pair doubled the score and had reached 137 when Jones (32), in attempting to pull a length ball from Yasir Arafat, found a top edge to be caught by the bowler off a skier.

Stevens and Azhar Mahmood maintained the momentum with a rash of late boundaries, Mahmood clattering three to the ropes in his 16 from eight balls while Stevens reached his half-century from the last ball of the innings with a back-foot carve through extra cover off Yasir Arafat for four.

In all Stevens faced only 30 balls and hit two sixes to go with his four fours as Kent rattled along at 8.15 runs per over to set the Sharks a testing target.

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