The loss of three quick wickets followed by a break for bad weather brought a downturn in Yorkshire Phoenix's fortunes at Headingley yesterday when they lost to Warwickshire Bears by 14 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system for calculating rain affected matches.

It left Yorkshire still to win a competitive game of any sort at Headingley this season and increased the pressures which are building up on the beleaguered club.

Chasing Warwickshire's 187, Yorkshire were 88 for five when rain took five overs out of the game and left them with a revised target of 177 but the task proved beyond them and they closed on 162 for nine, despite a late rallying stand between Simon Katich and Tim Bresnan.

Yorkshire's innings got off to the worst possible start with Craig White snicking the fifth delivery from South Africa's captain Shaun Pollock to debutant wicketkeeper Ian Clifford before pinch-hitter Chris Silverwood had a swing at Pollock and dragged the ball into his stumps.

The situation would have been even more serious had Matthew Wood been caught behind off Neil Carter before he also had scored.

But Clifford put down an easy chance and Wood made good his escape with some punishing blows during a 70 stand in 16 overs with Anthony McGrath.

The third wicket pair found the going much easier when Pollock was rested and replaced by Mohammad Sheikh, who was hit for 14 in his first over, Wood finding the boundary with two cracking cover drives from consecutive deliveries.

McGrath lifted a ball from Neil Smith expertly over mid-wicket for four but the return of Pollock at 84 for two dramatically altered Yorkshire's fortunes.

McGrath had only himself to blame for his dismissal when he pushed the all-rounder into the covers and set off for a quick single to Trevor Penney, who hurled down the stumps with the batsman still well short of his crease.

Wood was lbw to Pollock's next ball for 42 off 53 deliveries with five fours and immediately before the break for rain Michael Lumb tamely drove Dougie Brown to Carter at mid-on.

On the resumption, Yorkshire lost three quick wickets as they stumbled to 111 for eight but Katich and Bresnan batted with such determination that Warwickshire became worried when 18 were required from the last two overs.

Singles came off Smith's first two deliveries but Bresnan was then given out lbw aiming to leg and Carter bowled such a tight final over that Katich could only manage a single off the last ball, leaving him on 39, his best score so far for Yorkshire.

Winning the toss, Warwickshire never really came to terms with an awkward pitch and most of their batsmen got into the teens without progressing any further.

Brown top-scored with 37 and he was ninth out to a splendid catch on the mid-wicket boundary by Katich which stopped a certain six runs.

Yorkshire's fielding was better than for some time and the bowlers kept it reasonably tight, Chris Silverwood, Sidebottom, Richard Dawson and White each claiming two wickets

Scoreboard

Yorkshire Phoenix v Warwickshire Bears

At Headingley.Warwickshire Bears beat Yorkshire Phoenix by 14 runs (D/L Method)

Warwickshire Innings

M J Powell c Lumb b Silverwood 15

N V Knight c Fellows b Silverwood 12

S M Pollock c Blakey b Bresnan 15

I R Bell c Blakey b White 13

D P Ostler b Dawson 14

T L Penney c Blakey b White 19

D R Brown c Katich b Sidebottom 37

N M Smith c Fellows b Dawson 16

M A Sheikh lbw b Sidebottom 9

N M Carter not out 17

I J Clifford run out 1

Extras (lb8 w9 nb2 pens 0) 19

Total (44.5 overs) 187

Fall: 1-34 2-34 3-51 4-79 5-89 6-112 7-137 8-164 9-175

Bowling: Silverwood 9-0-29-2. Bresnan 7-0-41-1. Sidebottom 9-1-32-2. Dawson 9-0-33-2. White 6.5-0-24-2. McGrath 4-0-20-0.

Yorkshire Innings

C White c Clifford b Pollock 0

M J Wood lbw b Pollock 42

C E Silverwood b Pollock 12

A McGrath run out 25

S M Katich not out 39

M J Lumb c Carter b Brown 1

G M Fellows lbw b Smith 13

R J Blakey b Sheikh 0

R K Dawson b Sheikh 2

T T Bresnan lbw b Smith 22

R J Sidebottom not out 0

Extras (lb2 w4 pens 0) 6

Total 9 wkts Innings Complete (40 overs) 162

Fall: 1-0 2-15 3-85 4-85 5-88 6-108 7-109 8-111 9-161

Bowling: Pollock 8-2-20-3. Carter 8-2-21-0. Sheikh 8-0-41-2. Brown 8-1-36-1. Smith 8-0-42-2.

Umpires: M J Harris and D R Shepherd

Durham v Worcestershire

At Riverside.Durham (8pts) drew with Worcestershire (9pts)

Overnight: Worcestershire 250 (D A Leatherdale 63, G J Batty 56; N G Hatch 4-61). Durham 206-5 (A Pratt 67).

Durham First Innings

D R Law c Weston b Batty 68

G D Bridge b Batty 0

A M Davies b Donald 0

N Killeen c Hick b Donald 4

N G Hatch not out 1

M L Love absent 0

Extras (b5 lb2 w2 nb8 pens 0)17

Total (82.3 overs)243

Fall: 1-0 2-34 3-83 4-91 5-205 6-206 7-217 8-223 9-243

Total Bonus Pts: Durham 4 Worcestershire 5

Bowling: Donald 24-3-77-5. Sheriyar 19-6-46-1. Kabir Ali 21-6-55-0. Leatherdale 3-0-16-0. Batty 15.3-4-42-3.

Worcestershire Second Innings

V S Solanki b Killeen 17

A Singh b Killeen 16

G A Hick c Symington b Killeen 0

B F Smith c Symington b Killeen 14

D A Leatherdale lbw b Law 9

W P Weston not out 1

G J Batty not out 0

Extras (lb1 nb2 pens 0)3

Total 5 wkts (19.4 overs)60

Fall: 1-30 2-32 3-35 4-52 5-59

Did Not Bat: S J Rhodes, Kabir Ali, A A Donald, A Sheriyar.

Total Bonus Pts: Durham 4 Worcestershire 5

Bowling: Killeen 9-1-26-4. Hatch 5-0-14-0. Law 4-1-17-1. Symington 1.4-0-2-0.

Umpires: I J Gould and T E Jesty