Squeezed Yorkshire must win all three t20s left

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Hurricane Herschelle: A quickfire 51 from Gibbs with six fours sowed the seeds of Yorkshire victory - only for the plant to be strangled in the last five overs by Lancashire's tight bowling and top-class fielding

Galloping Herschelle Gibbs, above, had Yorkshire in the driving seat - but they still lost their seventh Friends Provident t20 match of the season against Lancashire at Old Trafford tonight.

They failed to capitalise on a humming start - posting only 162-8 when 200 had looked on after skipper Andrew Gale had won the toss and decided to bat. Lancashire opener Stephen Moore ran to 59 off 32 balls to help his side home by five wickets with an over to spare. Yorkshire, who do not play until Wednesday, have three matches left to save their quarter-final hopes, with Gale warning White Rose fans: "I think we need to win all three.”

South African Gibbs continued his impressive form for Yorkshire with his third score of 50 or more this season - sharing partnerships of 50 with Adam Lyth and 48 with Jacques Rudolph, and finishing on 51 off 36 balls.

Yorkshire raced to 100-2 in the 12th over - thanks to six boundaries from Gibbs and 36 off 22 balls for Lyth, but Lancashire - who have lost only seven matches in the history of Twenty20 cricket at their Manchester home - squeezed Yorkshire with spin and eye-catching fielding.

Stephen Parry, the left-arm spinner who made his England Lions debut alongside Gale on Thursday, took the man-of-the-match award with 3-17 from his four overs, while Simon Kerrigan finished with 1-29 from four.

Yorkshire had a commanding 130-3 after 15 overs, but Gale conceded that they lost momentum when Gibbs found Tom Smith at long-off when trying to loft Parry for a maximum at the start of the 16th. New Zealander Nathan McCullum took three catches, while Kerrigan took a cracker, tumbling backwards at mid-on to remove Gale in the fourth over.

While Yorkshire’s total was above the average on this ground, the fact that they scored only 32 and lost five wickets in the last five overs cost them dear.

Moore flew out of the blocks, delighting the vast majority of the 13,500-strong crowd. Despite losing partner Tom Smith to Richard Pyrah, caught at mid-wicket by Gibbs, Moore was dominant in the six overs of batting powerplay. The 29-year-old ex-Worcester batsman took 14 off Steven Patterson in the second over before hitting Pyrah for three successive boundaries at the start of the fourth.

Steven Croft continued Lancashire’s momentum with 36 off 28 balls - but he was caught at long-on by a diving Jacques Rudolph as he tried to whack Adil Rashid for six, as he had done the ball before.

That gave Yorkshire a glimmer of hope, but Paul Horton calmly scored an unbeaten 37 off 30 balls to seal the win. Pyrah and Clint McKay picked up further wickets, but they were too little too late - Pyrah finishing with 3-33 from four overs, and McKay 1-27.

GRAHAM HARDCASTLE

PREVIEW: After a remarkable fourth-day victory over Warwickshire in the LV County Championship it is back to t20 action at Old Trafford tonight...Andrew Gale returns to the helm after missing recent Yorkshire games due to his England Lions commitments.

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YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE SQUAD

Andrew GALE (capt), Adam LYTH, Herschelle GIBBS, Jacques RUDOLPH, Anthony McGRATH, Gerard BROPHY (wk), Jonathan BAIRSTOW, Adil RASHID, Richard PYRAH, Clint McKAY, Steve PATTERSON, Azeem RAFIQ, Ben SANDERSON, Gary BALLANCE, Lee HODGSON and John BLAIN.