Gardener overcame tension at the start line

South African Morne Nagel was disqualified for two false starts, before Gardener drew away from the field to come home in 6.59 seconds.

Gardener's mark was later beaten by US star Terrence Trammell in Boston.

And his win was not enough to secure victory for Great Britain as Russia won the five-way match which also featured Italy, Sweden and a Commonwealth side.

But Gardener was still delighted with his display, saying: "I'm running faster in every competition and am very healthy."

Daniel Caines celebrated his return to competition by winning the 400m.

Caines, whose appearances have been restricted by a knee injury, won in style in 46.90 seconds.

"I'm just glad to be back running in a British vest," he said. "It's going in the right direction."

"It's nice to be back, I'm still not at my best, but as long as I continue to do that I'll be pleased," he said.

"Dean Macey said when he saw me yesterday: 'Oh my God, I thought you'd retired', I said 'I'm younger than you are' - but the general consensus was that I had retired."

I'm still 50-50 about what I'm going to do in Melbourne Lee McConnell

Lee McConnell romped to victory in the 300m, and heptathlete Kelly Sotherton and long jumper Nathan Morgan were among a host of British athletes who achieved personal bests.

Olympic bronze medallist Sotherton matched her personal best in the long jump and ran her fastest ever 60m hurdles.

Running in front of her crowd, McConnell was an emphatic winner, easing home in a time of 37.94 seconds.

She remains undecided over whether to run the 400m or 400m hurdles at next month's Commonwealth Games.

"I'm still 50-50 about what I'm going to do in Melbourne," she said. "I will make my mind up while I am out there."

Morgan, 27, twice jumped over eight metres, but will need to improve on his best of 8.05m to meet the qualifying mark of 8.10m for the World Indoor Championships in Moscow.

Andrew Baddeley led from the front to set a personal best of three minutes, 43.50 secs to claim victory in the 1500m.

And Jemma Simpson shaved three seconds off her previous best to finish third in the 800m in 2:03.41.