After the National, the Lottery's jumping

Three consecutive numbers - 26, 27 and 28 - came up last week and both 28 and 43 won for the second week running, two combinations of events that helped to defeat those punters who stayed loyal to the Lottery and were not distracted by the Grand National. As a result there were no outright winners, and the stage is set for another rollover frenzy this weekend, with a jackpot in excess of pounds 20m.

The longest running losing sequence did come to an end last week, however, when 27 won for the first time in 21 weeks, and 49 also broke a 14-week losing streak. Number 1 is now the longest consecutive loser with 20 weeks out of the winner's box, closely followed by 20, 8, 10 and 47.

Number 28 drew up alongside 5 as the most frequent winner with 18 appearances each including bonus balls, but the poorest performers, 39, 13, 20 and 36, all failed to improve on earlier form.