(22pts) beat Northamptonshire (3pts) by ten wickets Essex won a spin-dominated match at Chelmsford. Batting first, Essex made 506 against Northamptonshire – whose normally astute spin attack was batted out of the game. Monty Panesar took a career best seven-wicket-haul in the innings, but conceded 181 runs in the process, bowling a mammoth 56.3 overs. The Northamptonshire reply was stifled by four wickets from James Middlebrook, as they crumbled to 141 for 6, but Ben Phillips and Damien Wright added 95 for the seventh wicket before Tony Palladino grabbed three wickets in four balls, and they finished on 247. Following on, Northamptonshire had made 203 for 2 when Essex' captain Ronnie Irani brought Alastair Cook on as seventh-bowler. The off-spinner, normally an opening batsmen, claimed his three first first-class wickets as three wickets fell for five runs, and Danish Kaneria wrapped up the rest of Northamptonshire's batsmen as they bowed out for 261. Chasing a target of 3, William Jefferson hit a four with the second ball of Essex' innings, thus ending the game. (Cricinfo scorecard) Yorkshire v Northamptonshire (16 July) Yorkshire beat Northamptonshire by 33 runs to progress to the Semi-Final of the C&G Trophy Michael Lumb with 89 and Ian Harvey with 74 lifted Yorkshire to 270 all out at Headingley in the fourth quarter-final of the C&G Trophy. It was a bit of an implosion from 227 for 3, but runs came thick and fast in that period, so Yorkshire wouldn't be too disappointed with losing their wickets. Northamptonshire started well, getting to 163 for 2 after all their top four got starts, but two wickets from England Test bowler Matthew Hoggard started to turn the match. From then on, the Northamptonshire effort just stopped dead, as they lost five wickets for 24 runs to fall to 216 for 9. Steffan Jones and Jason Brown paired up for 21 for the last wicket, but it was too little, too late. Northamptonshire v Somerset (18 July) Somerset beat Northamptonshire by four wickets to progress to the Semi-Finals of the Twenty20 Cup Northamptonshire Steelbacks failed to take full use of their home advantage, and Somerset Sabres escaped with a four-wicket win to reach their first semi-final of the Twenty20 Cup. Northamptonshire's batsmen made quick scores between 20 and 30, but Ian Blackwell's spell mid-match of three for 16 pegged Northamptonshire back to 118 for 6. Ben Phillips then made