YORKSHIRE scraped home by two runs under the Duckworth/Lewis system for calculating rain-hit matches in their opening Benson and Hedges Cup game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge yesterday

It was a great result for Yorkshire because they had much the harder task but the game was ruined as a contest by the bad weather.

There was nail-biting excitement right down to the last ball, however, because South African big-hitter Lance Klusener needed to blast it for four to bring Nottinghamshire victory.

He launched himself into a big blow at Craig White but could only edge it down to third man for a single to leave Notts on 68 for three as they chased a twice revised target of 71 off 13 overs.

At 44 for one from nine overs, Notts looked to be cruising it but new captain Darren Lehmann then surprisingly brought on off-spinner Richard Dawson at the pavilion end and himself at the other.

Dawson went for only three off his first over and Lehmann conceded a respectable seven before Jason Gallian marched down the pitch to Dawson in the penultimate over and was smartly stumped by Richard Blakey.

White was recalled for the last over with 13 needed and it seemed to have been a bad move when Klusener slapped his second ball high over mid-wicket for six but with five wanted from three deliveries Kevin Petersen edged into Blakey's gloves.

New batsman Usman Afzaal ran a single and Klusener was unable to find the boundary off the last ball.

In a game reduced to 48 overs a side, Yorkshire had set Notts a 226 target but after making 15 without loss a two-and-a-half-hour stoppage left them requiring 100 from 17 and further rain brought this down to 71 off 13.

Put in to bat, Yorkshire slumped to 46 for four as man-of-the-match Greg Smith weighed in with four wickets in the space of 15 balls at a cost of 12 runs.

But Lehmann and Anthony McGrath, back in the side after recovering from a groin strain, staged a splendid revival with a 109 stand in 22 overs to revitalise the innings.

Both batsmen were given a free hit off no-balls, McGrath being caught on the boundary edge off Klusener and Lehmann hooking Andrew Harris over the rope for six.

McGrath had moved on to 48, his best B&H score in four seasons, when he chopped a ball from Nadeem Malik into his stumps, while Lehmann looked set for a century until he tried to clip Balal Shafayat for six and fell to a nicely judged catch on the square leg boundary by Harris.

He had hammered 89 from 92 balls with six fours and a six.

Yorkshire experimented by promoting Chris Silverwood to No 3 but he soon played into his stumps during Smith's lethal burst.

SCOREBOARD

Benson & Hedges Cup

Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire

at Trent Bridge

Yorkshire Innings

Wood b Smith 14

White c Read b Smith 9

Silverwood b Smith 9

Lumb c Afzaal b Smith 6

Lehmann c Shafayat b Harris 89

McGrath b Malik 48

Fellows lbw b Clough 13

Blakey c Read b Smith 9

Dawson b Harris 8

Bresnan not out 1

Sidebottom c Read b Harris 1

Extras lb3 w9 nb6 18

Total (47.4 overs) 225

Fall: 1-25 2-34 3-37 4-46 5-155 6-191 7-215 8-215 9-223

Bowling: Smith 10-2-39-5 Malik 8-0-36-1 Harris 9.4-0-52-3 L Klusener 8-0-38-0 Clough 5-0-21-1 Pietersen 7-0-36-0

Nottinghamshire Innings

Bicknell c & b Sidebottom 10

Gallian st Blakey b Dawson 22

L Klusener not out 29

Pietersen c Blakey b White 2

Afzaal not out 1

Extras lb3 w1 4

Total 3 wkts Innings Complete (13 overs) 68

Fall: 1-28 2-55 3-66

Did Not Bat: B M Shafayat, C M W Read, A J Harris, G D Clough, G J Smith, M N Malik.

Bowling: Silverwood 4-1-17-0 Bresnan 3-0-8-0 Sidebottom 1-0-7-1 White 2-0-19-1 Dawson 2-0-7-1 Lehmann 1-0-7-0

Umpires: V A Holder and J W Lloyds

Yorkshire beat Nottinghamshire by 2 runs (D/L Method)

Updated: 11:29 Monday, April 29, 2002