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Lancashire bounced back in style from their Championship disappointment at Southport with a ruthless National League demolition of Warwickshire at Edgbaston yesterday.

The Bears had no answer to the Lightning, as Peter Martin grabbed five wickets to skittle them for 127, then Andy Flintoff smashed 45 from 35 balls to blast Lancashire home with more than half of their 45 overs to spare.

``It was just what we needed after Southport,'' said coach Dav Whatmore, who will be looking for Lancashire to reproduce such form in their next Championship game against Surrey which starts at the Oval tomorrow.

Mike Atherton is set to make his first appearance of the season after scoring 156 on his return from back problems for the second team at Middlesbrough last week. Lancashire face a tricky decision on who to leave out.

The CGU National League first division is fast developing into a Roses showdown.

Lightning are second in the table with 14 points from six matches, but Yorkshire Phoenix marched on at the top yesterday with a 27-run victory over Hampshire at Basingstoke - their fifth in as many matches.

Already Lightning's two floodlit games against the Phoenix, at Headingley on August 12 and Old Trafford five days later, are shaping as title deciders. Yesterday John Crawley won an important toss and the Bears quickly slipped to 36-3 with a wicket each for Martin, Ian Austin and Glen Chapple, making a welcome return from his side injury.

But it was the introduction of Muttiah Muralitharan which really had the Bears in a spin, as he conceded only 13 runs in his nine overs and had Trevor Penney lbw.

Then Martin returned to mop up the tail, ending with figures of 5-28 - seven runs away from his best-ever performance in what used to be the Sunday League, set at Old Trafford against Northants two years ago.

Mike Watkinson made the early inroads into Lightning's modest target with 21 before Flintoff came in to blast one six off Ashley Giles and two more in a single over from Warwickshire's Championship hero Ed Giddins which cost 20 in all.

Crawley then steered Lancashire home inside 22 overs with an unbeaten 34.