NO Worcestershire batsman could match Hamish Marshall's 54-ball century as the Royals crashed to a 61-run defeat to local rivals Gloucestershire in the Twenty20 Cup.

The Kiwi batsman hit 10 fours and six sixes in his score of exactly 100 as the Gladiators posted 198-7 after batting first at Kidderminster's Chester Road ground.

Having been hit on the knee by Doug Bollinger and having to retire hurt in the game between the two sides at Bristol, Marshall was making his return to action after missing two Twenty20 games.

The hosts lost wickets at regular intervals as they attempted to keep up with the run-rate and no-one came close to matching Marshall's effort, Graeme Hick again top-scoring with 31.

Worcestershire took advantage of the fielding restrictions to race to 42-1 after the first three overs, but Mark Hardinges (2-30 off four overs) and Ben Edmondson (2-18 off 2.2 overs) pegged them back with some tight bowling.

The pick of the Gloucester-shire attack, though, was spinner Ian Fisher who accounted for Steve Davies, Roger Sillence and Kabir Ali in his return of 3-12 from two overs.

Gloucestershire's fielders caught everything that came their way, none more spectacularly than Chris Taylor who ran 20 yards and dived full length at long-on to remove Davies for 13.

For Worcestershire, Bollinger - as expensive as the champagne he shares a name with - went for 17 off the first over before Kabir tempered things with just six off the second.

Sillence (0-48 off four overs) replaced Bollinger at the first opportunity, but was even more heavily punished, going for 23 as Gloucestershire raced to 46-0 off the first three overs.

Wickets in consecutive overs from Kabir and Bollinger checked the visitors' progress, but they always looked set for a competitive score while Marshall was at the crease.

Kabir removed Kiwi Craig Spearman, courtesy of a catch by Phil Jaques on the mid-wicket fence, while Bollinger accounted for Gladiators captain Alex Gidman with an edge to wicketkeeper Davies.

The fired-up Aussie even sent Gidman on his way back to the pavilion with a two-fingered salute.

Despite wickets falling frequently, Marshall batted excellently to reach his century, but the fuzzy-haired New Zealander was dismissed the ball after reaching three figures, pulling a Ray Price long-hop straight to Jaques.

Spinner Gareth Batty, who claimed 2-28 from his four overs, bowled with great control in the middle of the innings, yet it was Kabir who was the pick of the County's bowlers with 3-26 from four.

Worcestershire now face an uphill struggle to qualify from their division.