Azeem Rafiq starred with both ball and bat on his return to Yorkshire colours to help clinch a heart-stopping Friends Life t20 win over Lancashire at Old Trafford last night.

The 20-year-old off-spinner has returned to White Rose ranks after a successful month on loan at Derbyshire. And, with conditions at Old Trafford proving to be slow, low and advantageous to spinners, he was included in the line-up alongside Adil Rashid and David Wainwright by captain Andrew Gale, who invited the hosts to bat first.

Rafiq picked up a career-best 3-15 from four overs as Lancashire slumped to 62-6 in the 13th over, and could only post 122-6.

He then was forced to do the bulk of the work as ten runs were needed off the last over following a Yorkshire collapse.

He scooped Tom Smith for two boundaries to secure a second successive win with two balls and two wickets to spare, finishing 11 not out off four balls.

Lancashire have impressed in this competition mainly due to the success of combining twirlers Gary Keedy, Simon Kerrigan, Stephen Parry and part-timer Steven Croft.

But, from the moment Rashid trapped a reverse sweeping Smith lbw two balls in, they were on the back foot.

In the end, despite three wickets for Luke Procter, not even an imperative unbroken seventh-wicket stand 60 from 43 balls between Karl Brown and Procter could save them.

Rashid (2-29) also had Croft caught at long-on to leave the score at 22-2 in the fifth, and things got better at a rapid rate for the visitors.

Rafiq came on with the score at 41-2 in the eighth over, striking five balls into his spell. He had Paul Horton, also reverse sweeping, caught at deep point, he yorked Gareth Cross and had Jordan Clark caught by Gary Ballance at deep mid-wicket.

When Stephen Moore was run out for 34 after a mix-up with Brown, Lancashire were in real bother in the 13th over.

But both Brown and Procter hit sixes in career-best scores of 34 and 25 to keep the contest interesting.

Yorkshire lost Gale and Jonny Bairstow within the first five overs of their chase, both to the seam of Smith, leaving the score at 34-2.

But Adam Lyth and Anthony McGrath shared 37 for the third wicket to take the score to 71-2 in the 12th. That, however, was when the drama started.

Lyth was bowled by Keedy before Procter got McGrath and Gerard Brophy in the space of two balls, and later Ballance as well.

Rich Pyrah was then run out going for a third thanks to brilliant work from Clark and Croft on the long-off boundary before Rashid was also caught short of his ground in the penultimate. Yorkshire needed 15 off two and ten off the last, bowled by Smith, and they just crept over the line thanks to Rafiq’s heroics.

They will look for their third win on the spin when they host Northants at Headingley tomorrow (1.10pm).