Yorkshire Phoenix scored four more runs than Glamorgan Dragons in their crunch match at Cardiff yesterday but they still went down by 21 under the Duckworth-Lewis system for calculating rain-hit games.

After the contest had been reduced to 38 overs by rain which delayed the start for an hour, Glamorgan moved smartly to 84 for one in 13.5 overs before rain again intervened.

It then became 22-overs-a-side with Glamorgan hurrying on to 149 for six, but Yorkshire found themselves chasing a revised target of 175, which was a formidable task in damp, difficult conditions.

Pinch-hitter Chris Silverwood, opening for the first time in his career, made a brave attempt at it with a fiercely-struck 55 off 39 balls with nine fours, but once he had gone Yorkshire crumbled against the spinners and were all out for 153 in the final over.

Left-armer Dean Cosker led the way for Glamorgan with four for 17 off 3.2 overs but it was Robert Croft who began the slide and he finished with three for 27.

Croft was also responsible for getting Glamorgan's innings off to a cracking start in an opening stand of 84 with left-hander Ian Thomas and it was off the last ball before the weather break that Croft was out, caught at mid-wicket by Anthony McGrath off Ryan Sidebottom for 37 from 45 deliveries with seven boundaries.

Thomas was smartly stumped on the re-start for a bright 40 off 44 balls with six fours, the first of three wickets for off-spinner Andy Gray, who returned career-best figures of three for 23.

Gray had taken the place of Yorkshire's injured skipper Darren Lehmann and the side were led in the Aussie's absence by vice-captain Richard Blakey.

Yorkshire for a while looked as if they could make a push for victory as Silverwood assumed control with some sparkling strokes off the meat of the bat and he took two boundaries off each bowler in the opening overs from Owen Parkin and Andrew Davies while Vic Craven maintained the brisk tempo with a cover-driven six against Davies.

The pair had put on 42 inside five overs when Craven lashed Parkin high to Cosker at long-off but Matthew Wood managed to keep the runs flowing, helped by an escape for Silverwood when he was put down at cover by Davies.

Wood was bowled in Croft's first over and after the off-spinner had ended Silverwood's innings by having him caught at mid-wicket three short of his competition-best score, Yorkshire went to pieces as the chase became ever more frantic.

Yorkshire had begun the game on level points with Glamorgan and they needed to win to stay in with a real chance of lifting the Norwich Union League Division One title.

Updated: 11:57 Monday, August 12, 2002