ANDREW GALE feels Yorkshire let slip an opportunity to topple the Royal London one-day Cup North Group group leaders at Trent Bridge today.

The Vikings coach saw his side suffer their second defeat in five, added to a win and two ties, to undermine their hopes of knockout qualification - something they have achieved five years on the bounce now.

Yorkshire fell from 112-1 to 213 all out on the way to a four-wicket defeat against a Nottinghamshire side who have now won five from five.

Adam Lyth hit 63 and Harry Brook 39 in swashbuckling fashion on a good pitch, recovering from 5-1.

But they both fell in the space of three balls as Yorkshire slipped into trouble they were unable to get out of, despite a spirited display with the ball, led by three wickets for fast bowler Mat Pillans.

“That game probably sums up the way we’ve played in the tournament,” said Gale.

“We do some really good stuff, like the 100 partnership between Brooky and Lythy. I thought we had a grip of the game then, but we were just not ruthless enough.

“Someone’s got to take it on there.

“You lose two wickets in three balls and then Jack gets out and you’re suddenly backs to the wall thinking, ‘Can we scrape to 270-280?’. But we just kept losing wickets.

“When you’re playing good teams like Notts, you can’t afford to give them a sniff.

“When you have your noses in front, you have to cash in. One of those two (Brook and Lyth) has to go on and make a big score. That’s the difference.

“Had we got 320 or 350, we’d have had a sniff.

“We needed something special with the ball and in the field.

“The lads fought and made Notts work hard to knock off those runs, but we were fighting a losing cause at times. We just needed something to bowl at. In this day and age, 220’s well below par.

“We have to win three from three now to stand any chance of going through.”

Those final three games are against Northants, Worcestershire and Durham, two away and the last at Emerald Headingley next Monday.

The first is against Northants at Wantage Road on Wednesday (1pm) and is being televised by Sky Sports.

Gale added: “They’re three winnable games.”