Brothers-in-law Darren Lehmann and Craig White rescued Yorkshire Phoenix with a stand of 113 in 20 overs under the Trent Bridge floodlights last night to rob Nottinghamshire Outlaws of what looked like being an easy win.
Former Yorkshire all-rounder Gareth Clough tried to swing the game back Nottinghamshire's way with two wickets in three balls but in mounting tension the Tykes rallied and scrambled home with three wickets and four balls left.
It was Yorkshire's third consecutive victory in Division One of the Norwich Union League and it further eased their relegation fears.
Yorkshire had stumbled to 31 for four as they chased 245 but Leh-mann and White got them back on track with some superb batting.
Lehmann was first out for 71, and White, dropped by England from next week's Headingley Test, followed up his 186 in the Roses match last week with a stylish 73.
The Yorkshire reply could hardly have begun worse as Matthew Wood appeared unsighted in the first over when he attempted no stroke to a slower ball from Greg Smith and was lbw.
Then Michael Vaughan, back following his knee operation, poked at a wide ball from Nadeem Malik and was well caught at slip by former Yorkshire batsman Greg Blewett.
Vaughan was out to the fourth ball he faced and then Gavin Hamilton also edged into the slips and Gary Fellows was bowled by a good one from Malik.
White and Lehmann, however, raced on until the latter got an inside edge onto his stumps to fall to South Australia team-mate Blewett. He had faced 75 balls and hit nine fours.
At 144 for five, White and David Byas paced themselves well and put on 68 in 12 overs before Clough struck twice. Byas was held on the mid-wicket boundary by Paul Johnson and White was brilliantly caught at point by Kevin Pieterson.
Richard Blakey and Andy Gray survived jittery moments but the latter showed plenty of talent in some fine strokes. With 14 wanted, 11 came off the penultimate over and after Gray had survived a run-out appeal at the start of the last over, Blakey cover drove the next ball for four and victory.
All of Nottinghamshire's main batsmen had earlier got among the runs against moderate bowling, the best efforts coming from 16-year-old paceman Tim Bresnan and Australian-born off-spinner Gray, who both claimed their first wickets in the competition.
Bresnan broke the opening stand at 29 by yorking Darren Bicknell, while Gray took a return catch from Blewett who hit five boundaries in his 43. Bresnan also saw off Johnson (29), superbly caught by a diving Vaughan at third man.
Yorkshire's bowling, however, generally lacked the experience which the omitted Paul Hutchison could have provided, and Usman Afzaal was able to warm up for the Headingley Test with a controlled 53 off 83 balls before being run-out by Gray's direct hit.
The innings' power came from Pietersen (49) who was out when getting an inside edge on to his pad off White and seeing the ball roll on to the stumps.
Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Yorkshire Phoenix
(at Trent Bridge)
Nottinghamshire Outlaws Innings
Bicknell b Bresnan 16
Blewett c & b Gray 43
Afzaal run out 53
Johnson c Vaughan b Bresnan 29
Pietersen b White 49
Read c Hamilton b Elstub 16
Shafayat b White 9
Clough not out 5
Logan not out 3
Extras b8 lb6 w7 21
Total 7 wkts Innings Complete (45 overs) 244
Fall: 1-29 2-87 3-134 4-169 5-215 6-235 7-239
Bowling: Elstub 8-0-36-1 Bresnan 9-1-31-2 White 9-0-44-2 Hamilton 4-0-28-0 Gray 9-0-45-1 Lehmann 4-0-18-0 Fellows 2-0-28-0
Yorkshire Phoenix Innings
Hamilton c Afzaal b Smith 11
Wood lbw b Smith 0
Vaughan c Blewett b Malik 1
Lehmann b Blewett 71
Fellows b Malik 2
White c Pietersen b Clough 73
Byas c Johnson b Clough 35
Blakey not out 15
Gray not out 19
Extras b6 lb5 w6 nb2 19
Total 7 wkts (44.2 overs) 246
Fall: 1-1 2-10 3-28 4-31 5-144 6-212 7-212
Bowling: Smith 9-0-47-2 Malik 9-3-34-2 Logan 8.2-0-49-0 Clough 6-0-39-2 Pietersen 6-0-36-0 Blewett 6-0-30-1
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