Yorkshire Carnegie v Worcestershire: Yorkshire gain some welcome relief in Twenty20

It is the perfect tonic for an ailing patient, particularly one such as the Yorkshire cricket team.

Worcestershire went into this game having lost 11 of 14 fixtures this season in all competitions.

Defeat number 12 duly followed as Yorkshire won by two runs in a tense finish.

It was Yorkshire’s first victory in this year’s Twenty20 after defeats in their opening two games left them bottom of the table.

It was only their fourth win of the summer in any tournament – three of them against Worcestershire – and their first in 10 attempts at Headingley dating back to last August.

Rarely has the term “can we play you every week?” seemed more appropriate, with Worcestershire providing welcome respite.

A tougher test lies in wait against Lancashire at Old Trafford today (5.40pm), which completes the first quarter of an interminably long 16-match group stage.

After winning the toss on a glorious evening, Yorkshire made 152-7 from their 20 overs.

Captain Andrew Gale top-scored with 29, seven players reaching double figures but no one producing a major contribution.

On a pitch on which run-scoring was never effortless, the ball tending to hold up in the surface, Worcestershire’s innings was a bizarre affair.

They were immediately in trouble after falling to 12-2, managed only 35 runs from the first six overs of power play before a late assault from Gareth Andrew (60 not out from 26 balls) propelled them to the improbable heights of 150-7.

Andrew’s innings helped Worcestershire flay 80 runs off the last seven overs as Yorkshire flirted with a confidence-draining defeat.

The equation boiled down to four needed off the last ball bowled by Ryan Sidebottom, but Shaaiq Choudhry was only able to scamper a bye as Andrew looked-on from the non-striker’s end.

Victory gave Yorkshire a much-needed boost, although this was by no means a perfect display.

The batting was patchy despite the sluggish surface, with too many players getting themselves in only to inexplicably get themselves out.

Despite Worcestershire’s late flurry, Yorkshire’s bowling was more impressive, the consistently excellent Rich Pyrah spearheading their efforts with 4-21 and Adil Rashid bouncing back from recent pummellings to capture 3-19.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment was the paltry attendance.

Only 2,700 turned out despite the glorious weather – a further sign of how avaricious administrators have killed the golden goose.

Yorkshire made one change to the side that lost by 53 runs against Nottinghamshire last Sunday, Gary Ballance replacing Joe Root.

The home team were afforded a flying start by Gale, who lashed five fours in a 15-ball innings before driving to mid-off to leave Yorkshire 40-1 in the fifth over.

Yorkshire managed a respectable if hardly riotous 51 runs during the power play overs and then lost their way as wickets tumbled.

Adam Lyth picked out long-on, Jonny Bairstow swung across the line and was lbw, while Anthony McGrath clipped to mid-wicket as Yorkshire slipped to 99-4 in the 14th over.

Ballance failed to make an impression, edging an attempted steer through third-man to the wicketkeeper, while Gerard Brophy skied to mid-off just when he seemed primed to launch a brutal assault.

Pyrah was caught-and-bowled in the penultimate over and it needed useful contributions from Sidebottom (16 not out) and Rashid (13 not out) to elevate Yorkshire to a useful score.

A better team would have punished the hosts but Worcestershire were up against it from the start after making a total hash of their batting power play.

But for a wide, Rashid would have begun their innings with a maiden and the leg-spinner removed Moeen Ali and Alex Kervezee cheaply to put Yorkshire in charge.

Vikram Solanki looked integral to Worcestershire’s hopes but the veteran batsman played a dreadful shot when he pulled Pyrah straight down the throat of deep mid-wicket to leave the visitors 36-3.

That became 37-4 when Pyrah bowled Shakib Al Hasan, at which point one would have got long odds on Worcestershire reaching 100.

Rashid reduced them to 67-5 when he bowled Daryl Mitchell only for fellow spinner David Wainwright to come in for some torrid treatment from the Rugby Stand end.

From nowhere, Worcestershire blazed 20 runs off one over from the left-arm spinner, which included two leg-side sixes by Andrew.

When 16 arrived off the next over, bowled by Steve Patterson, Worcestershire were suddenly back in the hunt.

Andrew and James Cameron added 59 for the sixth-wicket in five overs before Cameron spooned Pyrah to deep mid-wicket.

Pyrah brilliantly held Ben Scott off his own bowling before Worcestershire failed in a quest to score 12 runs off the final over.