Rogue fox interrupts play at Lord's

An unexpected pitch invader stole the show at Lord’s on Thursday, with a rogue fox briefly interrupting play during a domestic T20 match between Middlesex and Hampshire.

With Hampshire chasing just 136 runs for victory in front of a crowd of 20,000, the fox made its sudden appearance during the 14th over.

It was quickly chased from the field, with Hampshire suffering few other interruptions as they chased their target in 17.3 overs with six wickets in hand.

Middlesex were without overseas stars Brendon McCullum and Tim Southee, with Steve Eskinazi (43 from 27) the only major contributor as the hosts were dismissed in 19.1 overs.

A quickfire 60 from Rilee Rossouw then ensured the result was never in doubt, with Hampshire continuing a good run away from home that’s seen them win five of their past seven away games.

Elsewhere, Derbyshire moved to the top of the north group table thanks to a five-wicket win over Yorkshire.

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Shaun Marsh scored an unbeaten 31 (26) as Yorkshire posted 5-180 from their 20 overs, but good batting from Billy Godleman (67) and Wayne Madsen (47) saw Derbyshire home with two balls to spare.

In Northampton, the hosts came out on top against Lancashire when they successfully defended their 4-158.

Richard Levi’s 71 from 54 set up the Northamptonshire innings, before Lancashire faltered early in their chase, crumbling to 5-25 in the sixth over.

A 91-run stand between Ryan McLaren (77 off 50) and Dane Vilas (40 off 37) then gave Lancashire hope. With 26 runs required from the final over, McLaren looked like he might steal an unlikely victory when he struck two successive sixes, but he was dismissed the following ball as Lancashire fell 11 runs short.

Elsewhere, Glamorgan suffered a rain-affected five-run loss to Gloucestershire, while bottom-ranked Sussex romped to an eight-wicket win over Surrey.