YORKSHIRE Vikings’ hopes of bouncing back against North Group leaders Worcestershire Royals was thwarted by heavy rain at New Road that forced the match to be abandoned.

Having suffered a disappointing defeat against Durham Jets on Wednesday, when they were dismissed for just 95, Yorkshire had hoped to respond with a strong performance against a Worcestershire side that are unbeaten in the last seven matches.

But steady rain forced umpires Richard Illingworth and Jeff Jones to abandon the match at 7.10pm, leaving Yorkshire frustrated by the weather for the second successive Friday following their Roses T20 wash-out at Headingley.

“At the start of the week we were looking forward to playing these games and get a run going in Twenty20 cricket,” admitted Alex Lees, Yorkshire’s top-scorer in the competition with 188 runs in six matches.

“We had a woeful batting display against Durham the other night and we really wanted to put that right but unfortunately the weather has stopped us.

“When you’ve not played well you want to get out there and put things right as soon as possible but the weather has stopped us doing that and we will concentrate on our next game and try to bounce back in that. “

The New Road wash-out completes an intensive spell of five matches in eight days for Yorkshire to catch up their games in hand on their North Group rivals, which was caused by hosting the second Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley.

But after two costly defeats in the last week against Nottinghamshire Outlaws and Durham Jets, they are still clinging to the hope of qualification, three points adrift of leaders Worcestershire with four matches remaining in the group stages.

Yorkshire’s now face a week of matches against Durham, who pipped them to the title last season. Their championship match starts at Headingley on Monday and then they return to NatWest T20 Blast action at Chester-le-Street next Friday when they will be aiming to make amends for Wednesday’s batting collapse.

The wash-out was also a frustration for two players due to feature in the game at New Road with Saeed Ajmal, Worcestershire’s Pakistan-born spinner, and Aaron Finch, Yorkshire’s Australian batsman, both having travelled back from London to play after attending a dinner at Lord’s on Thursday evening.

The dinner was to mark a showpiece match to celebrate the Lord’s 200th anniversary on Saturday between the MCC and the Rest of the World before returning to their counties for next week’s championship matches.

Finch’s appearance against Durham this week is likely to be his last championship game for Yorkshire as Kane Williamson, Yorkshire’s New Zealand overseas batsman, returns from his tour of the West Indies next week.