Another light went out in Yorkshire's darkening season yesterday when they were walloped by Northamptonshire in the fourth round of the NatWest Trophy at Wantage Road.
Now they have only the Championship to play for, though it was hard to credit on the evidence of this latest performance that they head the Division One table while Northants prop up the lower flight.
They were outbatted, outbowled and outwitted and Northants fully deserved their emphatic victory by 69 runs with 6.1 overs remaining.
Chasing a 253 target, Yorkshire were never in the frame and the only innings of any substance came from Anthony McGrath who hit an enterprising 64 but once he was sixth out all hope vanished.
The man of the match was Northants' opening bowler Michael Strong who fired out Yorkshire's first three batsmen in seven overs for only ten runs - the paceman not needing to return for a second spell.
Yorkshire have lost to Northants on each of their three previous NatWest matches and nothing suggested the sequence was going to end as Adrian Rollins and Mal Loye set about the bowling with gusto after the hosts had won the toss.
On a slow but true pitch, Darren Gough made little impact with the new ball and Chris Silverwood was punished for pitching too short.
The situation was already getting out of control when Gavin Ham-ilton, the best Yorkshire bowler, stepped in to trap both Rollins and Loye lbw in consecutive overs, making Northants 51 for two.
But Yorkshire's problems were only beginning as skipper Matthew Hayden and David Sales put Northants in complete charge with a 118 stand in 24 overs, Sales sweeping James Middlebrook for six during two overs which cost the off-spinner 23 runs, and Hayden striking Hamilton into the crowd.
Hayden was finally caught at mid-wicket by David Byas after smacking 63 off 69 balls with seven fours and a six, and Sales fell lbw to Darren Lehmann for 65 from 94 deliveries with four fours and a six.
With runs already on the board, Northants lost wickets rapidly going for big hits and their last five went down in 14 balls for eight runs, Gough hitting the stumps three times in his final over to give him flattering figures of four for 36.
Strong began Yorkshire's slide by bowling Gary Fellows and in his same over had Richard Blakey feathering a catch behind.
He also saw Lehmann flash outside off-stump to give a catch to Graeme Swann at point and the writing was on the wall as Michael Vaughan drove at Devon Malcolm and was caught at short extra cover by Hayden.
Byas, out of form all season, struggled manfully while McGrath pierced the field with some well timed shots, and the fifth wicket pair added 73 in 18 overs to give Yorkshire a glimmer of hope.
They wanted 144 off the final 20 overs but Byas immediately got a leading edge against Tony Penberthy and skied a catch to Hayden at cover for 34.
Craig White tried hard to keep the scoreboard moving in a 51 stand in eight overs but when McGrath was unlucky to pick out Graeme Swann on the mid-wicket boundary it did not take Northants long to mop up.
SCOREBOARD
NatWest Trophy fourth round
Northamptonshire v Yorkshire
at Northampton
Northamptonshire beat Yorkshire by 69 runs
Northamptonshire Innings
Rollins lbw b Hamilton 20
Loye lbw b Hamilton 24
Hayden c Byas b Hamilton 63
Sales lbw b Lehmann 65
Swann c Byas b Lehmann 18
Cook c Byas b Gough 20
Penberthy c Middlebrook b Lehmann 11
Ripley b Gough 4
Strong b Gough 1
Brown not out 1
Malcolm b Gough 0
Extras b4 lb12 w5 nb4 25
Total (50 overs) 252
Fall: 1-48 2-51 3-169 4-207 5-208 6-244 7-247 8-249 9-252
Bowling: Gough 10-1-36-4 Silverwood 10-0-50-0 White 8-0-39-0 Hamilton 10-1-39-3 Middlebrook 2-0-23-0 McGrath 4-0-23-0 Lehmann 6-0-26-3
Yorkshire Innings
Fellows b Strong 2
Vaughan c Hayden b Malcolm 16
Blakey c Ripley b Strong 0
Lehmann c Swann b Strong 7
Byas c Hayden b Penberthy 33
McGrath c Swann b Penberthy 64
White b Penberthy 26
Hamilton c Hayden b Swann 1
Silverwood c Sales b Swann 2
Middlebrook not out 6
Gough run out 3
Extras b1 lb11 w9 nb2 23
Total (43.5 overs) 183
Fall: 1-13 2-13 3-28 4-36 5-109 6-160 7-170 8-171 9-178
Bowling: Malcolm 9-1-31-1 Strong 7-3-10-3 Brown 10-1-41-0 Swann 9.5-0-45-2 Penberthy 8-0-44-3
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