Yorkshire beat rivals Lancashire in FL t20 Roses clash at Headingley

Yorkshire extended their lead at the top of the FL t20 northern group with a 19-run Roses victory over old rivals Lancashire at Headingley.

David Miller (54) and Gary Ballance (41) put on a fifth wicket partnership of 91 to guide the home side to a competitive 180-6.

After slumping to 45-2, Lancashire mounted a fightback through Steven Croft (56) and Karl Brown (46).

But the overs ran out for the visitors, who fell short on 161-5.

Lancashire, who face Yorkshire in the return derby at Old Trafford next Friday night (6 July, 19:00 BST), are now four points off top spot.

But, in front of a 10,350 crowd, Yorkshire took a giant step towards qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Put in to bat, the Tykes were 60-3 after 10 overs, losing all three wickets to boundary catches.

But they were then salvaged by a hurricane stand of 91 in 7.1 overs between Miller and Ballance - a Yorkshire record in Twenty-20 cricket for the fifth wicket.

It was a game of mixed fortunes for Lancashire pace bowler Yasir Arafat, who became the first bowler in English domestic Twenty20 cricket to take 100 wickets.

But he came in for some severe punishment, his final figures of 1-55 from four overs proving the most expensive conceded by a Lancashire bowler in the history of the competition.

Lancashire were still in with a shout with 58 wanted from five overs - but their hopes were dashed when Joe Root held on to Brown on the boundary edge, throwing the ball into the air before stepping over the rope and then catching it again when he re-entered the field of play.

Yorkshire were without Ryan Sidebottom - who will be out for up to four weeks with a calf strain.

But they were able to include Jonny Bairstow, who was released by England to play.