Yorkshire threw away their Benson and Hedges Cup match against Leicestershire at Headingley yesterday after being in a position from which it seemed almost impossible for them to lose.

Craig White and Darren Lehmann were steaming along in a fourth wicket partnership which took Yorkshire to 185 for three and left them requiring only 36 to win in almost eight overs.

But Lehmann then slashed hard at a wide ball from Matt Whiley to be caught at backward point and panic set in as wickets toppled to wild shots.

It left them wanting 14 off the final over from Yorkshire's former overseas star Michael Bevan and all hope vanished when he bowled White for a BandH career best 93 from 125 deliveries with five boundaries.

Yorkshire came off the field stunned to lose by six runs under Duckworth-Lewis calculations after chasing a revised target of 221 from 45 overs in the rain-affected match.

The gold award was snatched from White's hands by Bevan who besides grabbing a vital wicket in his solitary over took two boundary catches and also scored 48 in Leicestershire's total of 221 for seven.

Yorkshire's defeat puts added pressure on them to beat Durham at Riverside today, particularly after Durham's excellent win over Lancashire by 16 runs.

Matthew Wood and Chris Silverwood soon fell when Yorkshire began their reply but White and Michael Lumb calmly put Yorkshire in charge with a sensible 110 stand in 24 overs during which White cruised past his previous best score of 57 not out against Nottinghamshire at Headingley in 1996.

But Lumb then lofted an off-drive at off-spinner Carl Crowe to be caught on the boundary by Bevan to depart for 43 although his dismissal did not seem significant at the time.

Lehmann was quickly into his stride, striking Vince Wells over backward square leg for six, and he and White had dashed up 51 in eight overs when Lehmann was caught for 25 from 28 balls.

Yorkshire would still have won if they had kept their cool but Anthony McGrath, Gary Fellows and Richard Blakey all got out trying to knock the cover off the ball while White looked on helplessly from the other end.

Winning the toss, Leicestershire also lost a couple of early wickets before Leeds-born Iain Sutcliffe was joined by Bevan and the pair put on 97 in 22 overs before Lehmann triumphantly dismissed his fellow countryman by pinning him lbw.

Sutcliffe continued to look solid until the 37th over when he gently played White to Fellows at mid-wicket after compiling 65 from 94 balls with four boundaries and the Leicestershire innings was given late impetus by Neil Burns who thrashed an unbeaten 44 from only 29 deliveries.

Fellows emerged as Yorkshire's most successful bowler with three for 31 but the tidiest spell came from 17-year-old paceman Tim Bresnan who conceded just 29 runs from his nine overs.

Updated: 08:54 Thursday, May 02, 2002