Foxes kept waiting

Tony Frost cuts en route to an unbeaten half-century for the hosts © Getty Images

Leicestershire need to pick up at least a point against Nottinghamshire on Wednesday to clinch a place in the quarter-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy after losing to Warwickshire in a rain-affected match at Oakham School.

Chasing a revised target of 189 off 49 overs, Leicestershire were left stranded on 53 for two after three balls of the 20th over when the match was abandoned because of rain, giving Warwickshire victory by eight runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method.

It was a massive blow for the Foxes, who had looked set to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time in five years after restricting the Bears to 187 for eight.

An opening stand of 33 between Tom New and HD Ackerman provided a solid platform for Leicestershire in their reply until two wickets in five overs swung the tie Warwickshire's way.

The Foxes were ahead of the required run-rate when Ackerman hit across the line and was bowled for 14 by Neil Carter in the 13th over.

And when James Allenby was brilliantly run out by a direct hit from Jim Troughton in the 17th over with the total on 43, the hosts were left reeling.

A couple of boundaries from New and Boeta Dippenaar closed the gap before heavy rain put paid to Leicestershire's hopes with another 19 overs remaining.

Tony Frost and Navdeep Poonia were Warwickshire's heroes after they were put into bat on a cold and windy day on a pitch that had plenty of bounce.

It made life difficult for all the batsmen with Carter out to the third ball of the innings, caught and bowled by Nadeem Malik.

But Poonia held things together despite the continued loss of early wickets until he was smartly caught and bowled by Allenby having made 45 off 84 balls.

Frost then took over and, despite a couple of interruptions for rain showers, reached an excellent half-century off 68 balls courtesy of a glorious cover drive off Ryan Cummins.

Ant Botha gave him excellent support, making 27 in a stand of 59 for the seventh wicket - the biggest of the innings - before becoming Cummins' fifth victim.

Frost finished unbeaten on 55 but Warwickshire's total still did not look enough against a strong Leicestershire batting line-up until the weather intervened, leaving the Foxes' hopes of reaching the quarter-finals still in the balance.