Bell leads Warwickshire to title

Ian Bell scored a brilliant century to lead Warwickshire to a three-wicket victory in the final of English cricket's 40-over competition on Saturday, which handed Somerset a hat-trick of heartbreaks.

Somerset lost the Twenty20 final to Hampshire after a tied total last month then this week missed out on a first county Championship success when they finished level on points with Nottinghamshire but had to settle for the runners-up spot by virtue of winning one less match.

Put in to bat in the day-night match at Lord's Saturday, Somerset started well and were looking good at 176-3 but leg spinner Imran Tahir then ripped through them with five wickets in four overs to leave them all out for 199.

Somerset's last six batsmen contributed a total of 19 runs.

Warwickshire lost early wickets in the chase and at 39-3 the game seemed to be swinging back towards Somerset.

However, Warwickshire captain Bell, who lost his place in the England team this year, paced his innings to perfection, smashing a series of boundaries for 107 off 95 deliveries before he holed out when the scores were level.

Chris Woakes came in to hit the winning run with an over to spare.