Gloucestershire Gladiators opened their account in this season's Twenty20 Cup with an eight-wicket win over Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Wantage Road in the competition's first five-overs-per-side match.

Rain delayed the start for nearly two hours, and the hosts - put in to bat - made 42 for five, a scored passed by Gloucestershire with five balls to spare as Chris Taylor pulled the first delivery of the final over for six over deep midwicket.

Play eventually got underway at 7.25pm after two heavy downpours, and the entire match - the shortest permissible under the Twenty20 rules - was played in poor light with more rain never far away.

The Steelbacks ran into trouble in the first over, bowled by Jon Lewis, when Graeme Swann and David Sales both holed out to Martyn Ball at mid-off.

South Africans Martin van Jaarsveld (27) and Johann Louw (13) then added 39, including 13 off the fourth over from Mike Smith, and van Jaarsveld cleared the ropes with a pick-up for six at the start of the final over from James Averis.

But Averis had his revenge by claiming three wickets in four balls.

Van Jaarsveld hoisted a catch to deep square leg, Louw sliced the next delivery to backward point and Jeff Cook gave Ball his third catch in front of the Indoor Cricket Centre.

Gloucestershire's reply also began poorly, Steve Adshead carving Carl Greenidge to third man with a single on the board, but man-of-the-match Tim Hancock soon put the Gladiators back on course with two big sixes off Jason Brown and Swann in successive overs.

Hancock was bowled by Ben Phillips after cracking 28 from 13 balls, and it was left to Taylor to finish the job in style as Northamptonshire slumped to their third straight defeat.