Yorkshire on a roll with Harvey's ton

<preform>Yorkshire 170-2 Lancashire 168</br> <i>Yorkshire win by 8 wickets</i></preform>

Twenty20 Cricket could have been invented for Andrew Flintoff, and English cricket's most feared big hitter since Ian Botham emphatically made his mark on his competition debut in front of 11,600 spectators here last night.

Twenty20 Cricket could have been invented for Andrew Flintoff, and English cricket's most feared big hitter since Ian Botham emphatically made his mark on his competition debut in front of 11,600 spectators here last night.

Released from his England contract to make only his second appearance for his county this season, Flintoff clubbed 10 fours and three sixes to clock up 85 runs off only 48 balls, impressing even a partisan Yorkshire crowd.

For good measure, he bowled as well, turning his arm for the first time in a month after suffering an ankle injury, and had to take over as captain after injury prevented Warren Hegg from fielding. In the event, however, he was comprehensively upstaged by his fellow all-rounder, Australia's Ian Harvey, as Yorkshire kept alive their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

Harvey's brilliant unbeaten 108 off 58 balls inspired a Yorkshire victory by eight wickets, a change of fortune that was overdue. Craig White's side have suffered the pain of losing two North group matches despite totalling more than 200 in each.

With Flintoff opening the Lancashire innings after Yorkshire had put them in, it appeared the competition's record total of 221 might be under threat as Flintoff reached 50 off just 29 balls and Lancashire passed 100 in the 10th over.

But from 132 for 4 in the 13th, the running out of Chris Schofield sparked a collapse in which the last six Lancashire wickets fell for 36 in the space of 38 balls.

Lancashire had their other contracted England man, James Anderson, on hand to bolster their attack but there was no containing Harvey, who shared a partnership of 108 in 11 overs with fellow Australian Phil Jaques and became the first player to record two Twenty20 centuries, having hit the competition's first for Gloucestershire last season, as Yorkshire won with 13 balls to spare.

Unfortunately for them, however, White will miss tonight's match against Durham after a recurrence of a knee injury forced him off the field.