WARWICKSHIRE bounced back from the disappointment of their Benson and Hedges Cup elimination 24 hours earlier with a victory, calculated on the Duckworth-Lewis method, which suggests they will be a major force in this competition.

On a pitch favouring the bowlers this was a tight, low-scoring affair. No batsman reached 50 and only two made the 40s.

Nick Knight, whose 40 was his highest score this season, showed the virtue of patience even in a one-day game. Paul Nixon came in late for Leicestershire and was the one batsmen to go for all-out attack, scoring 44 off 33 balls with four boundaries and a six before he was narrowly run out.

Leicestershire, who beat Warwickshire at Grace Road earlier in the week and finished top of their group, have a strong attack but lacked the benefit of Warwickshire's good start, in which Knight and Neil Smith added 74 in 16 overs.

Two rain breaks reduced the contest to 36 overs each. The target was recalculated and Leicestershire needed to score 172 to win nine runs more than Warwickshire's final total - which caused some head scratching.

Smith's 38 came off 42 balls before he was caught in the deep and Knight was one of three victims for Dominic Williamson.

Ed Giddins rarely strayed from the straight and narrow and dismissed the in-form Darren Maddy for only six.

Warwickshire's Andy Moles, dogged by injury in recent seasons and still recovering from Achilles trouble, earned £201,692 in his 1997 benefit year.