YORKSHIRE contrived a spectacular collapse to turn almost certain victory into a defeat that stunned a festival crowd of over 4,500 and severely dented their AXA League hopes.

Their pursuit of a target of 169 from 33 overs was halted by rain after two overs, and when play resumed after a 45-minute delay the asking figure had been reduced to 124 from 21 overs.

The early loss of David Byas, hoisting Paul Franks's second delivery after the restart to mid-wicket, threatened problems but a partnership of 77 in 11 overs between Darren Lehmann and Michael Vaughan should have made victory a formality.

The departure of Lehmann, whose 39 came from 32 balls and included two mighty sixes, plunged the innings into a downward spiral with seven more wickets falling in the space of seven overs for the addition of only 37 runs.

In the end, Richard Stemp faced the final delivery from Kevin Evans needing a boundary for victory. He missed and Notts had completed a remarkable turnaround.

Their innings was built entirely around Paul Johnson. Coming in at the fall of the second wicket in the 10th over with the score on 30 he was never in any trouble, hitting 88 of the 138 runs scored during his 23-over stay. Indeed, Yorkshire's target would have been far more demanding had his partners allowed him more of the strike.

His half century, a combination of finesse and raw power, came from 41 balls and included a straight six off Ryan Sidebottom and eight lusty boundaries. He had added another five fours from 35 balls when the innings closed with seven overs lost to a rain delayed start.

He was the only Notts batsman to pass 20 and the only one to look remotely at ease after the early departure of Mathew Dowman and Tim Robinson.