YORKSHIRE Carnegie’s five-game winning streak in the Clydesdale Bank 40 came to a crushing end to the Gloucestershire Gladiators last night, beaten by 65 runs in Cheltenham.

It means their opponents have now joined them at the top of group B, and on this evidence it is the west country side who are better equipped to reach the semi-finals.

Despite an effortless 84 from Adam Lyth the Tykes were dominated from start to finish by the Gladiators who first posted a record score of 294 for six with the bat, before bowling the White Rose out for only 229.

“We were not very good,”

admitted director of cricket Martyn Moxon at the close.

“It is disappointing to have lost but hopefully we have now got this sort of performance out of our system.”

After losing the toss and being asked to bat, the home side were soon into their stride.

Tino Best’s first over of the game went for 14 – and even though William Porterfield was ousted by Tim Bresnan for only 17, the theme of Gloucestershire being on top had been set.

Next to punish the Tykes attack, in front of a full house on the opening day of the Cheltenham cricket festival, were Alex Gidman and James Franklin.

Together they put on 105 for the second wicket, to propel the score on to 128 for one, before Franklin, for 42, and Gidman, for 64, were ousted by Steven Patterson and Bresnan respectively.

That only brought Hamish Marshall and Chris Taylor to the crease though and soon the runs were flowing again.

After Jonathan Bairstow dropped a tough chance to oust Taylor on five, he went on to add 98 runs with Marshall to the increasing delight of the vocal home support.

Marshall was dismissed for 42, but Taylor was in no mood to stop and closed on 83 not out – his third highest score in one-day cricket.

Gloucestershire’s final score of 294 for six was the largest total the county had ever posted against Yorkshire in limited overs cricket and it proved more than enough to win the game.

However, the resistance which the Tykes top order showed will still be a cause for concern.

After only the last ball of the fifth over they were already four down with Jacques Rudolph, captain Andrew Gale, Jonathan Bairstow and Adil Rashid all back in the pavilion.

Between them they had only made 24 runs, and it then took a superb century partnership from Adam Lyth and Tim Bresnan, who made 58, to at least make the game a contest.

However, just as Yorkshire were beginning to dream of a dramatic victory they were both dismissed, in consecutive overs, by Steve Kirby to effectively end the contest with 92 runs needed from only 45 balls.

The tail was soon wrapped up to complete a chastening night for the Tykes, who saw their 100 per cent record in this competition ended emphatically.

Scoreboard

Gloucestershire v Yorkshire At Cheltenham

Gloucestershire Innings

A P Gidman c Pyrah b Best ...................64

W T Porterfield c McGrath b Bresnan ....17

J E Franklin c & b Patterson .................42

H J Marshall c Best b Bresnan ..............42

C G Taylor not out .................................83

C D Dent c Wainwright b Patterson ....... 8

S D Snell run out ...................................24

R K Dawson not out .............................. 0

Extras (b1 lb2 w9 nb2 pens 0) 14

Total 6 wkts Innings Complete (40 overs)...............................294

Fall: 1-23 2-128 3-132 4-230 5-244 6-284

Did Not Bat: J Lewis, S P Kirby, A J Ireland.

Bowling: Bresnan 8-0-49-2. Best 3-0-33-1.

Patterson 8-0-44-2. A U Rashid 8-0-67-0.

Pyrah 7-0-50-0. Wainwright 6-0-48-0.

Yorkshire Innings

A W Gale b Ireland ................................12

J A Rudolph c Dawson b Lewis .............12

A Lyth c Marshall b Kirby .......................84

J M Bairstow c Snell b Ireland ............... 0

A U Rashid b Lewis ............................... 0

A McGrath c Snell b Kirby .....................12

T T Bresnan c Dawson b Kirby ..............58

R M Pyrah c Gidman b Dawson ............29

D J Wainwright lbw b Dawson ............... 0

T L Best not out ..................................... 8

S A Patterson c Snell b Dawson ............ 0

Extras (lb1 w9 nb4 pens 0)......14

Total (35.3 overs) ...................229

Fall: 1-20 2-34 3-34 4-39 5-73 6-178 7-203 8-207 9-228

Bowling: Ireland 5-0-55-2. Lewis 6-1-41-2.

Franklin 6-1-30-0. Kirby 8-1-41-3. Dawson 7.3-0-41-3. Gidman 3-0-20-0.

Gloucestershire beat Yorkshire by 65 runs.