Date-stamped : 15 Sep97 - 22:10 AXA Life League: Donald`s final fling seals Warwickshire tri- umph By Peter Deeley at Edgbaston Warwickshire (221-6) bt Gloucestershire (150) by 71 runs WARWICKSHIRE could lay claim to the accolade of Team of the Nineties after this, their seventh trophy of the decade in all competi- tions. They showed enormous character in shaking off the memories of that humiliating NatWest Trophy final defeat at Lord`s only a week ago to collect the Sunday League winners` prize of -L42,000. When news reached the near-10,000 crowd that Kent had lost, there was such a roar of excitement that spinner Ashley Giles had to halt midway through his run-up. Neil Smith, the Warwickshire captain, said: "We kept getting garbled messages from fine leg that Yorkshire were winning and when the big roar went up we just had to stay focused to complete the job." Allan Donald, in his last game before returning to South Africa today, clinched matters when he sent Rob Cunliffe`s stumps flying. Donald leaped high into the air to be sur- rounded by a mob of cele- brating team-mates and supporters. He said: "At one stage I was under people`s feet. Then they were trying to haul me on their shoulders. But I didn`t mind. I have had a fabulous 10 years at Birmingham and the last five have been simply fantastic." Warwickshire`s potent attack carried them to success with Don- ald finishing with four for 24 - giving him 30 wickets in the com- petition at under 12 runs apiece - and Giles four for 25. But Nick Knight gave them the start they needed after Warwick- shire winning the toss. His only error came on 32, when he was caught on the cover boundary only for it to be called a no- ball. Warwickshire were running at nearly six an over before Martyn Ball imposed some control. The opening pair added 89 in 16 overs until Smith, who had scored 39 off 38 balls, tried to hit Ball over his head and the bowler ran backwards to take a well- judged catch. Ball struck again in his next over when Dougie Brown was caught at midwicket and Warwickshire`s assault stuttered when David Hemp soon followed with Mark Alleyne the bowler this time taking the catch as it came from behind him. Knight has run into good form at just the right moment. Miss- ing much of the summer because of two broken fingers this was on- ly his eighth Sunday league innings, averaging just over 21 before this game. He produced the shot of the game, lifting Jonathan Lewis out of the ground and into the river Rea with a shot off his legs that owed everything to timing. Knight`s hundred - reached in 119 balls - came up in the 36th over when he glanced Lewis fine for his seventh four. His dis- missal in the next over was not his fault; called for a return run by Trevor Penney, Knight was about a yard out of his ground when Bobby Dawson`s long low throw from the deep just flicked the stump. Gloucestershire threatened another shock when their openers put on 33 after seven overs and it needed Donald to put a brake on the aggression when he soon had Dawson caught behind off a thin edge. Gladstone Small provided just the steadying influence Warwick- shire`s attack needed. Small, 35, was a member of Warwickshire`s Sun- day league-winning side in 1980 and here he was still Mr Re- liable, sending down eight overs - two of them maidens - for a mere 25 runs. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)