Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey marked his return to Yorkshire's side after injury with a stunning unbeaten century as Lancashire were crushed by eight wickets with 13 balls to spare in the Twenty-20 Roses clash at Headingley last night.

But Yorkshire's triumph came at a heavy price because captain Craig White suffered a crippling knee injury while fielding early in the game and he will now miss the semi-final of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy at Bristol on Saturday.

Yorkshire's rousing victory keeps them in with a shout of reaching the quarter-final draw but the ease with which it was obtained could not be envisaged while Andy Flintoff was blasting his way to 85 off 48 balls after opening the Lancashire innings.

It was with Lancashire's score on 38-1 in the fourth over that Flintoff struck a delivery from Tim Bresnan high over mid-on and White hurt his knee pedalling backwards in a futile attempt to catch the ball.

Steve Kirby soaked up much of the punishment from Flintoff and the paceman's four overs at a cost of 60 runs were the most expensive ever recorded by a Yorkshire bowler in the competition.

There was no containing Flintoff until off-spinner Andy Gray came on and in his first over held on to a stinging return catch which came at lightning speed. Gray went on to capture 3-18 off 3.1 overs to register his team's best bowling figures.

Harvey, playing his first game in two months after recovering from a torn hamstring, also bowled with splendid variation to claim 2-30, but it was with the bat that he had the 11,600 crowd roaring.

Opening the innings, Harvey proved to be even more dynamic than Flintoff and he slammed four consecutive boundaries in Glen Chapple's first over, all authentic strokes.

Harvey drove Dominic Cork over long off for six to rush him to 42 from just 17 balls and his half-century came with a towering straight six off Sajid Mahmood.

Fellow Australian Phil Jaques cracked a big six off Carl Hooper and the second wicket pair had charged their stand on to 108 in 11 overs when Jaques was caught by substitute fielder John Wood for 39 from 32 balls.

There was simply no stopping Harvey, who equalled Flintoff's 85 off three fewer balls. He notched Yorkshire's first Twenty-20 century with a boundary to end unbeaten on 108 from just 59 balls with 16 fours and two sixes.

Yorkshire meet Durham at Riverside today in the final group match after which they will know if they have made it through to next Monday's quarter-finals.

Last night's attendance netted Yorkshire £60,315 in gate receipts and if they do make the last eight and gain a home tie then a full house can be expected.

Updated: 09:48 Thursday, July 15, 2004