Ed's brilliance with bat and ball lifts Bears

ALL-ROUNDER Ed Barnard hit an excellent middle-order 67 and then helped close things out with the ball as the Bears defended a 206-target to claim a crucial Vitality Blast win over Yorkshire at Headingley on Friday.

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Barnard’s 40-ball knock was the centrepiece of a 205 for eight total which also included a telling late assault of 76 runs in the last five overs from the lower order.

Pakistan seamer Hassan Ali hit 22 not out off eight balls and later struck twice with the ball, sealing a third win in six in the North Group - this by 32 runs - before the Bears welcomed Nottinghamshire Outlaws to Edgbaston last night.

Yorkshire, for whom New Zealand quick Will O'Rourke struck three times with the ball, looked well placed to reel in the target thanks to opener and captain Dawid Malan’s 65 off 34 balls. But his fourth successive fifty in this competition was not enough to prevent a fourth defeat in six, the hosts finishing on 173 for five.