Cricket: Gloucestershire 157-7 Hampshire 154 Gloucs Won By Three Wickets

Shane Warme has worked his magic at Hampshire this summer, conjuring victories from nowhere and instilling self-belief into previously humdrum county cricketers. Last Sunday he more or less beat Gloucestershire on his own in the totesport League. He took all five wickets to fall, four while bowling, another was run out, and then blasted 48. But at Bristol yesterday morning the magic was more Tommy Cooper than David Copperfield. Yet by late afternoon he had almost overseen another minor cricketing miracle.

On a damp, cloudy morning he chose to bat, a typically bold decision and one that often makes sense against this Gloucestershire side. Just as boldly, he stuck himself at number three in the batting order. He found himself at the crease for the fifth ball of the day after the dismissal of Derek Kenway. He then wafted and edged to the keeper and was given explicit directions on the way back to the pavilion by the successful bowler, Jon Lewis.

When James Hamblin followed two balls later Hampshire were four for three and even the super-optimist Warne must have been hard-pressed to spot the silver lining. In fact, his side did well to scramble to 154 given that they slumped to 63 for seven at one stage. Even so we assumed that the run chase would be a formality especially when Gloucestershire had raced to 105 for two in 24 overs, courtesy of a blistering half-century by Craig Spearman. But never discount Warne. He did not start bowling until the twenty-second over and for the next hour he created doubt where none should have existed.

Warne took four wickets and at one point Gloucestershire had shrivelled to 137 for seven. The ball did not turn much but Warne preyed on increasingly fraught batsmen. Two were lbw propping forward and umpire John Steele was convinced. Two others, Phil Weston and Chris Taylor, were seduced into playing mesmerised heaves and for a moment Gloucestershire looked as if they might toss away the massive advantage that they had earned in the morning. In the end they scraped home by three wickets.

Gloucestershire have a more understated cricketing guru. Mark Alleyne has moved halfway up the stairs - he would surely have thrown himself off them if Gloucestershire had lost this match - replacing John Bracewell as the head coach. He no longer plays Championship cricket but he wheels himself out to captain the one-day side. The transition has been tricky this summer, but Gloucestershire remain a proud side in this competition.

As holders of the C&G Trophy, they were in no mood to be humbled by Hampshire again. Alleyne quietly guided his side in the field - he did not have to be too clever. Jon Lewis swung the ball away consistently and occasionally found surprising bounce, so Alleyne let him bowl his 10 overs without interruption. Lewis accounted for four of the Hampshire batsmen, among them, crucially, John Crawley.

With the recruitment of Shabbir Ahmed, Mike Smith is now reduced to bowling first change and he did this in his usual niggardly fashion. Dmitri Mascharenas and Chris Tremlett batted with spirit and good sense to take the score past 150 in a ninth-wicket partnership worth 60 but Alleyne mopped up the innings with 3.5 overs still remaining.

Spearman, the former New Zealand Test player, can be guaranteed to bat the same way whether the target is 155 or 355. Here he blasted from the start. He reserved his fiercest assault for the unfortunate Hamblin, who yielded 27 runs in one over. A six over long-on caused a five-minute delay as they searched for the ball in the car park.

Warne shuffled his bowlers frantically. Five were used in the first 15 overs though, strangely, he did not try himself. Alan Mullally eventually provided the breakthrough when he bowled Spearman with a delivery that jagged back into the off-stump. Alex Gidman, highly regarded, completed a forgettable match when he was lbw to Mullally.

Warne eventually appeared in the attack and self-doubt set in. Shoaib Malik alone remained calm enough to withstand the great conjuror. Jon Lewis was man of the match. Shane Warne ensured that we had a match.