Sajid Mahmood continued his fine run of form in the Twenty20 Cup with two wickets as Lancashire lost a nail-biting clash with Yorkshire at Headingley.

The former Bolton League seamer put in a stirring effort of 2-13 from his four overs in defence of 150-6 - but Tykes captain Darren Gough hit 20 off nine balls to help his side recover from 121-8 in the 17th over to secure the two wicket win with two balls to spare.

Mahmood had whipped out top scorer Anthony McGrath, who claimed the man-of-the-match award with 46 from 39 balls, and Rich Pyrah in that 17th over.

But Dominic Cork went for 17 runs in the next over, including four leg-byes, to virtually hand Yorkshire their third consecutive win.

Lancashire have now lost two matches from winning positions in succession after their defeat against Durham at Old Trafford.

Yorkshire go above them in the table courtesy of their head-to-head record, with the reverse fixture at Old Trafford tomorrow.

Francois Du Plessis had also claimed two wickets in an over to reduce the Tykes to 86-5 in the 12th over, while Tom Smith, Kyle Hogg, Simon Marshall and Steven Croft all picked up wickets.

While McGrath, who has now top scored in all five of Yorkshire's games, was at the crease you always got the feeling that the hosts were in control.

But the game switched this way and that way in the dying stages - just like the game against Durham had on Tuesday night.

Earlier, Mal Loye top scored with a brisk 43 off 33 balls at the top of the order, while Gareth Cross bashed a late unbeaten 42 from 24 balls, including six fours and one huge maximum into the famous Western Terrace.

Cross, the 23-year-old wicketkeeper, helped to recover an innings that had fallen to 83-4 in the 13th over and really boosted it late on with three fours off the last three balls of the visiting innings.

He shared in a fifth wicket partnership of 53 in six overs with in-form all-rounder Kyle Hogg, who chipped in with a handy 14.

Captain Stuart Law helped to recover from the early loss of Lou Vincent with a valuable 23 off 16 balls, while Loye later nailed his own version of the switch-shot for four.

Rich Pyrah finished with 3-20 from four overs for Yorkshire.