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Ian Austin rammed the words of his World Cup critics back down their throats with a magnificent match-winning performance for Lancashire at Headingley last night.

Austin, who was axed by England early in their World Cup campaign and whose selection for the squad had been mocked in some quarters, earned amazing figures of 9-6-8-2 to take Lightning to the top of the CGU National League.

It was a timely reminder of Austin's ability to exploit helpful English seaming conditions in one-day cricket, especially a sit silenced the Yorkshire majority in a crowd of around 10,000.

Lancashire were defending a modest total of 149 on a difficult pitch and even after Austin's opening spell of 5-4-3-0, and a wicket each for his fellow seamers Glen Chapple, Peter Martin and Andy Flintoff, Yorkshire were heading for victory at 82-3 thanks to a fourth wicket stand of 45 between Michael Vaughan and Anthony McGrath.

But then Austin returned to have them both lbw in another mean four-over spell.

Muttiah Muralitharan then chipped in, running out Bradley Parker with a direct hit from backward square leg and dismissing Gary Fellows when he came on to bowl the next ball.

Although Richard Blakey and Chris Silverwood had taken Yorkshire to 114-7 when rain stopped play, with little more than four overs left Lancashire were well on top.

``The rain was a shame, and disappointing for the crowd, but I think we had an edge,'' said Lightning skipper John Crawley.

``We thought 160 was a winning score so 150 gave us a fighting chance. Oscar bowled superbly but everyone chipped in.''

And Crawley also praised the last wicket stand of 19 between Martin an Muralitharan, who made a handy 11 on his first CGU innings for Lightning.

The win takes Lancashire two points ahead of Worcestershire Royals, who still have a game in hand but who they play in Worcester in the last game of the season on September 19.

It also knocks Yorkshire out of title contention and leaves them looking over their shoulders towards the battle to avoid relegation.

``I said before we played Gloucestershire on Tuesday that we had to win two out of three, and we've already done that,'' added Crawley.

``If we can make it three out of three by beating Yorkshire again at Old Trafford next Tuesday we'll have a good chance of winning the league although it's still very tight.''

With Austin on their side, few would bet against Lightning now.