Captain and coach Mark Alleyne produced a telling spell of 3-31 to see Gloucestershire to a 16-run win over Middlesex in the C&G Trophy quarter-final at Bristol.

The visitors were well-placed at 140-4 at the start of the 35th over, needing a further 100 to win, when Alleyne came on to take the key wickets of Ben Hutton, Lance Klusener and Ed Joyce, who top scored with 53.

Earlier, Craig Spearman (62) and Philip Weston (54) had put on 118 for Gloucestershire's first wicket before a mid-innings slump restricted them to 239-8 off their 50 overs.

It looked barely enough but Alleyne's contribution with the ball saw Middlesex slide to 223-8 in reply. After six of his eight overs, he had 3-17.

Spearman was voted man-of-the-match for three catches, including two fine efforts at first slip to dismiss openers Andrew Strauss and Paul Weekes, in addition to his 62 runs.

Middlesex had offered Gloucestershire first use of a greenish pitch and Strauss must have been regretting his decision as Spearman and Weston raced to half-centuries.

But when Spearman was run out shortly after losing his partner, it signalled a slump to 169-6, all the wickets falling for the addition of just 41 runs in the space of 13 overs.

Shoaib Malik then produced a valuable innings of 43 off 66 balls to steady the ship and Martyn Ball's unbeaten 33 at the end was also a key effort.

Middlesex were soon 28-2 as Spearman's safe hands at slip provided a wicket each for Shabbir Ahmed and Swindon's Jon Lewis. But with a long batting line-up, the visitors still had every chance.

Chad Keegan (26) and Owais Shah (24) put on 56 for the third wicket and after they fell in quick succession Joyce and James Dalrymple put together another profitable stand of 60.

It was then that Alleyne began to nag away with his medium-pace.

At 185-8, Middlesex knew their chance had gone but there were some belligerent blows from Simon Cook, even though his unbeaten 32 off 25 balls ultimately proved in vain.

SCOREBOARD

Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy Quarter Final, Bristol: Gloucestershire 239-8 (C M Spearman 62, W P C Weston 54), Middlesex 223-8 (E C Joyce 53) Gloucestershire beat Middlesex by 16 runs; Old Trafford: Lancashire 286-5 (C L Hooper 66, D G Cork 54 no, M B Loye 50), Yorkshire 287-7 (M P Vaughan 116 no, D S Lehmann 62) Yorkshire beat Lancashire by 3 wkts; Edgbaston: Warwickshire 343-4 (G B Hogg 94 no, I R Bell 68, I J L Trott 65 no), Northamptonshire 270 (D J G Sales 52, D R Brown 5-43) Warwickshire beat Northamptonshire by 73 runs.

Tour Match, Derby: New Zealand 258-7 (S P Fleming 102, S B Styris 56), Derbyshire 259-6 (Hassan Adnan 113 no) Derbyshire beat New Zealand by 4 wkts; Belfast: West Indies 242 (B C Lara 106), Ireland 146 West Indies beat Ireland by 96 runs