YORKSHIRE are out of the Twenty20 Cup after allowing their opponents to get out of jail for the second time in three days.

Martyn Moxon’s side put their place in the top division of next season’s T20 in serious jeopardy with defeat to Leicestershire, while three consecutive defeats have ended the Tykes’ limitedovers cup campaign.

They will now need to better Nottinghamshire’s result on the final day tomorrow to avoid playing in division two of the T20 league next season.

The top flight of the new competition will comprise the best three sides in each group of this year’s Twenty20 and Yorkshire slipped down to fourth at Grace Road after collapsing from a very strong position in the last five overs.

The Foxes put on a par score of 164 but Jacques Rudolph and Andrew Gale looked like launching the Tykes to victory with a 12-over stand of 104.

The pair matched each other stride for stride early on as the hosts attack was banished to all corners of the ground with impressive regularity.

Rudolph was captain with Anthony McGrath still recovering from a car accident and the South African began to show the way with a string of merciless strokes that damaged Leicestershire in more ways than one.

Andrew Harris bore the brunt of the abuse when Rudolph crashed the ball into the bowler’s shoulder, narrowly avoiding repeating the trick from the next delivery and following up with back-toback boundaries before the end of the over.

He brought up a half-century in just 29 balls when he smashed a Claude Henderson delivery straight down the ground for an almighty six.

Rudolph was eventually removed for 61 when he was taken at long off by James Taylor, and Gale’s exceptional 43 from 33 balls came to an end soon followed when he failed to find the maximum he was looking for and was held in the deep by Iain O’Brien.

It looked like scant consolation for O’Brien, who had earlier been hit for three consecutive fours by Gale, but Michael Vaughan and Gerard Brophy were foiled in their attempts to keep up the pace as runs suddenly became difficult to come by.

Needing only 53 from 42 balls with eight wickets in hand, Yorkshire were in the driving seat, especially when a sublime guided top edge from Vaughan rocketed to the third-man fence. But that proved to be the final highlight for the visitors, who managed to score only 32 runs from the last 30 balls.

Vaughan’s dismissal signalled the beginning of the end when he was bowled off his pads from an Andrew Harris full toss for nine.

Yorkshire were left needing an unlikely 18 from the final over and lost by 11 runs.

■ Ali Brown’s third half-century in three Twenty20 Cup matches for Nottinghamshire Outlaws helped them cruise to victory over Derbyshire Phantoms by eight wickets.

The 39-year-old thumped 65 off 42 balls with six fours and two sixes and after hitting only 29 runs in the first six innings of the competition, now has 203 in the last three games.

He was ably assisted by Matt Wood (34) and Will Jefferson (31 not out), as Notts overhauled the Derbyshire total of 165 for six in the 17th over.

The visitors’ innings was anchored by Graham Wagg’s 62 and an unbeaten 45 from Wavell Hinds, while Notts veteran Mark Ealham bowled a double-wicket maiden on his way to three for 20.

Derbyshire openers Wagg and Chris Rogers had got off to a good start in reaching 38 after four overs, but the introduction of Ealham’s medium pace in the fifth put the brakes on their innings.

Rogers chipped a simple return catch to the bowler and three balls later Greg Smith’s swipe resulted in his offstump being flattened.

Scoreboard

Leicestershire v Yorkshire At Grace Road

Leicestershire

M A Boyce c Rafiq b Kruis ..................... 4

J Allenby c & b Rafiq .............................32

J du Toit c Lyth b Pyrah .........................39

H H Dippenaar st Brophy b Rafiq ..........20

P A Nixon c Gale b Kruis .......................32

J W Taylor not out ..................................15

W A White run out ..................................12

Extras (b3 w7 pens 0)..................10

Total 6 wkts Innings Complete (20 overs)...............................164

Fall: 1-9 2-61 3-88 4-114 5-138 6-164 Did Not Bat: C W Henderson, I E O’Brien, A J Harris, H F Gurney.

Bowling: Kruis 4-0-32-2. Shahzad 3-0-30-0.

Pyrah 4-0-41-1. Patterson 2-0-15-0. Rafiq 4- 0-21-2. Rudolph 3-0-22-0.

Yorkshire

A W Gale c O’Brien b Henderson ..........43

J A Rudolph c Taylor b O’Brien .............61

M P Vaughan b Harris ............................17

G L Brophy not out ................................15

A Shahzad c Gurney b Harris ................ 2

A Lyth c Nixon b White ..........................10

J J Sayers c O’Brien b White ................. 1

Extras (lb1 w3 pens 0)................. 4

Total 6 wkts Innings Complete (20 overs)...............................153

Fall: 1-104 2-108 3-136 4-140 5-151 6-153 Did Not Bat: S A Patterson, R M Pyrah, Azeem Rafiq, G J Kruis.

Bowling: Harris 4-0-30-2. Gurney 2-0-19-0.

O’Brien 4-0-36-1. White 4-0-29-2. Henderson 4-0-27-1. Allenby 2-0-11-0.

Leicestershire beat Yorkshire by 11 runs.