Nottinghamshire’s Steven Mullaney warmed up for the North v South series that starts at the weekend with four wickets in a warm-up game against Northamptonshire.

The all-rounder, who will captain the North in the three-match 50-over series being played in Barbados, claimed 4-53 at the Three Ws Oval as friendly opponents Northamptonshire were bowled out for 259, with Josh Cobb scoring 97.

Worcestershire leg-spinner Brett D’Oliveira weighed in with two wickets while Leicestershire’s Zak Chappell and Yorkshire’s Matt Fisher also impressed with the ball.

In reply, Worcestershire’s Joe Clarke made 40 from 43 balls in an opening stand of 114 with Lancashire wicketkeeper Alex Davies.

The latter then shared a second-wicket stand of 99 with Sam Hain (57 form 53 balls) in scoring a superb century and finishing on 127 from 106 balls before being retired out by North Coach Paul Collingwood.

Lancashire’s Keaton Jennings and Warwickshire’s Adam Hose then completed an emphatic victory with exactly 11 overs to spare.

“We’re pretty excited about the series to come,” said Davies. “That was great preparation for us.

“With the ball, everyone chipped in and there were some good performances, and it was nice for us to get off to a good start when we batted.

“The pitch was good so Clarkey and I tried to give it a good whack up top, and I got a few out in the middle.”

The North-South series begins on Sunday when the two sides meet for the first time at the Kensington Oval.

Meanwhile, in the Pakistan Super League Alex Hales scored 16 and Samit Patel took 2-14 off two overs to help Islamabad United strengthen their position at the top of the Pakistan Super League.

The team of the Notts Outlaws duo restricted a Quetta Gladiators team containing Kevin Pietersen and Jason Roy to 147-7 and then cruised to 149-4 in reply to win by six wickets.

Another Trent Bridge player, batsman Riki Wessels, scored 11 in Peshawar Zalmi’s score of 181-6 against the Karachi Kings.

He then kept wicket as Peshawar won by 44 runs, wtih the Kings struggling to 137-8.

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