Another field day for bowlers

Cricket: Yorkshire 233 & 154 Warwickshire 140 & 76-3

For the second day running, the bowlers held the aces here, the consequence of another high turnover in wickets being that the match was three-quarters over by tea. Barring storms today, the participants will be free to watch the Cup final tomorrow.

Warwickshire need a further 172 to defeat Yorkshire but will have to play well to get them on a pitch that has so far demanded a high degree of application and a generous slice of luck. If Darren Gough and Chris Silverwood get out of bed on the right side, it may soon seem a target beyond them.

Whatever the outcome, there are bound to be concerns expressed over the condition of the Edgbaston square with the first Test less than three weeks away, especially given the controversy over the last two Test wickets here. Mike Smith, the Warwickshire chairman, admitted that batting was "a challenge" but did not see anything alarming in the surface. "If you have two England bowlers on one side and Allan Donald on the other, it will be a challenge," he said. "But I did not see anything untoward. There was some lateral movement, which you want, but no-one has been hit on the gloves or the helmet.

Warwickshire lost their six remaining wickets for 76 yesterday, the last five going in the space of 20 deliveries in a rapid collapse from 138 for 5 to 140 all out after the left-arm spinner Richard Stemp dismissed the dangerous Trevor Penney.

Ashley Giles fell two balls later and then 22-year-old Gavin Hamilton returned to claim three wickets in 11 balls.

Exposed to Donald again, with Brown offering good support and Giles getting turn, Yorkshire built on a first-innings lead of 93 only with difficulty. Anthony McGrath and Craig White bagged a pair and only Darren Lehmann and Bradley Parker survived long. But 154 gave them an advantage and when Gough removed Andy Moles and the nightwatchman Tony Frost before stumps the odds were shortening against a Yorkshire win.