Warwickshire held their nerve to chase 238 to win inside 34 overs and did it with four balls to spare. The match was a cracker under lights and swung like a pendulum before Paul Best edged the second legitimate ball of Iain Wardlaw's final over to the fence to seal the win.

It is a defeat that all but mathematically ends Yorkshire's hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the CB40.

David Miller produced a stunning display of fielding as Yorkshire fought to cling on. He first claimed Warwickshire's first wicket. Will Porterfield (19) skied to deep square and the South African ran 40 yards before diving to scoop up the chance. The Bears were 27-1 after 4.5 overs needing 238 inside 34 after Duckworth Lewis intervened after the CB40 became a CB34.

At 35-1 after 6 overs the rain returned, but only briefly. We needed 10 overs to constitute a result match and after 10 the Bears were 60-1 and marginally behind the DL par score.

Azeem Rafiq had Chopra (34) caught behind, but it was nip and tuck as the Bears managed to stay in touch with the required rate. 94 were required from 72 balls as Jim Troughton went to fifty. The Warwickshire skipper was pacing his innings well.

Rafiq bowled Troughton for 61 and the game shifted again as the Bears required 83 runs to win from the remaining 10 overs.

Another outstanding piece of fielding by Miller from the third man boundary as he threw in after Jaques had saved an Ambrose boundary saw Darren Maddy short after turning for the third.

Tim Ambrose 38 ball fifty kept the hosts hopes alive. He hit the returning Ashraf for consecutive boundaries as a sparse home crowd were getting value for money. 48 were needed from 30 balls after the first of four powerplay overs.

Laurie Evans crunched Wardlaw over extra cover, but then was caught by Miller off Wardlaw for 12. Ambrose (64) scythed a drive off Ashraf to Patterson at short third man and then Keith Barker (1) was run out by a Miller throw when coming back for the second.

Stefan Piolet swatted a full toss from Patterson over deep square and then cracked the last ball through extra cover as 14 came from the 32nd over. The Bears needed 20 from the final two overs.

The fourth ball from Ashraf was smashed by Piolet over deep square for six and the next went through extra cover for four leaving the Bears needing only 6 runs from 7 balls. That became 6 from the last six balls to be delivered by Iain Wardlaw, but an initial wide, a ball struck by Best through cover for two and an edged boundary saw Warwickshire home.

Best ended unbeaten on 16 and Piolet made 23 as the eighth wicket added 40 in 17 balls.

Yorkshire had been asked to bat first and Andrew Gale played a straight drive followed by a punch through cover to notch the first boundaries on a green surface where the early going was tough.

Jaques cracked Keith Barker for six over mid-wicket as Yorkshire found their feet. Gale then crunched Wright through point the the fence. After the first ten overs the Tykes were 56-0.

It became the highest Yorkshire opening stand of the season as the pair threatened to run riot, but then Jaques fell to the softest of dismissals as he smashed a full toss from Best straight to Chopra at short mid-wicket. He had made 37 from 33 balls with a six and 3 fours.

The hundred came up in the 18th over. Gale swung Best over wide mid-on for a maximum and at the halfway stage it was 117-1.

The first ball of the 25th over was a leg-side wide from Best, but Gale was well stumped by Ambrose for 76. Off the third legitimate ball of the same over David Miller was lbw for 1 and Yorkshire were 146-3.

Adam Lyth however was taking up Gale's mantle as he cut Best behind square to move into the thirties. With ten overs remaining the Tykes were 172-3. They took the 4 over batting powerplay. Lyth swung Piolet well over the midwicket boundary and then smashed him over long-on for six more to reach his fifty in 45 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.

It seemed typical of the Yorkshire season that just as the momentum was all theirs, the rain took them back to the Pavilion with the score 186-3 after 30.5 overs.

Lyth resumed an hour-and-a-half later with a six off the final ball of the 31st over as the game was reduced to a CB34. He made it 4 sixes in 6 balls when he swung Barker over fine leg for six more. Next ball though he attempted another big shot and skied the same bowler to Chopra at midwicket.

Yorkshire lost their last five wickets for 27 runs in a dash to post a winning total. Would 213-8 off 34 be enough? Not quite.

JAMES BUTTLER at EDGBASTON

MATCH ZONE

MATCH PREVIEW

Yorkshire Carnegie start a trio of CB40 matches this week at Edgbaston tonight against a Warwickshire Bears side that currently sit in second place in Group C. The match starts at 4.40pm.

Everyone appears to have written the Tykes CB40 challenge off, but with two games against the Bears, a match against Sussex and at least one game in hand on their rivals a winning run could still see Yorkshire reach the semi-finals. For that to happen, a win at Edgbaston must kick-start the campaign.

Equally, a win for Warwickshire tonight will leapfrog them over Sussex at the top of the table.

Yorkshire are bolstered by the news that David Miller, who made a huge impact in the FLt20 campaign, is now available to play the three CB40 matches as he remains with the squad ahead of t20 Finals Day on 25 August.

YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE SQUAD

Andrew GALE (capt), Adam LYTH, Phil JAQUES, Gary BALANCE, David MILLER, Jack LEANING, Adil RASHID, Azeem RAFIQ, Gerard BROPHY (wk), Alex LILLEY, Moin ASHRAF, Steve PATTERSON and Iain WARDLAW.

Ryan Sidebottom continues to miss out, but will play 2^nd XI cricket this week in readiness for a Championship return. Richard Pyrah (eye) is rested and replaced by Alex Lilley. It’s good to see another youngster in Jack Leaning included in the senior squad for the first time.