Mike Yardy joined some pretty illustrious company at Edgbaston last night as Sussex earned their most important win of the season in the totesport League.

When the 24-year-old established himself in the county's one-day side this season he must have envisaged his match-winning contributions being made with the bat.

But his under-rated left-arm spinners totally bemused promotion rivals Warwickshire and earned him figures of 6-27 - the third best performance by a Sussex bowler in the one-day league and ahead of such luminaries as Tony Greig and John Snow. It was also the best performance in the competition this season.

The Bears were hustled out for an under-par 169 and after a few scares Murray Goodwin, with a classy 86 not out off 113 balls, guided Sussex to a five-wicket win with four overs to spare. Sadly man of the match Yardy could not quite produce the ultimate all-round performance and was out for two.

The Sharks are now four points clear at the top and with three of their four remaining games at Hove - starting against bottom of the table Scottish Saltires next Tuesday - they are back on course to return to the first division after a five-year absence.

Yardy's performance was all the more remarkable considering that before last night he had bowled just 16 overs in six totesport games and taken six wickets. Perhaps it is the TV cameras which bring out the best in him. His previous best 4-26 came in a televised match against Somerset last month.

The same pitch on which Warwickshire had beaten Lancashire to reach the C&G final on Saturday offered some slow turn but while Mushtaq Ahmed and Mark Davis bowled 15 wicketless overs between them, Yardy's loopy offerings had the Bears batsmen in a spin.

There was certainly no hesitation on Nick Knight's part in batting first and when Neil Carter smashed two boundaries and a six in James Kirtley's first over it looked like being a long day - and night - for Sussex.

But Kirtley recovered to remove Jonathan Trott and Warwickshire's top order struggled with Rana Naved's clever changes of pace. Knight was undone by extra bounce, Carter shovelled a slower ball to mid-wicket and genuine seam movement defeated Jim Troughton.

There was a recovery from Michael Powell and Alex Loudon who put on 67 in 20 overs and when Yardy was thrown the ball they must have felt he offered them an opportunity to accelerate. Instead the innings went into dramatic decline as Yardy picked up wickets in five of his next six overs.

A sprawling one-handed return catch off Powell got the ball rolling and in his next over Loudon wasted his good work with an injudicious mow across the line and was stumped by a yard.

Trevor Penney and Tony Frost tamely followed in successive overs and Yardy looked slightly embarrassed when Ntini and James Anyon were bamboozled by yorker-length deliveries to wrap up the innings.

Only Adrian Jones (7-41 against Notts in 1986) and Mike Buss (6-14 versus Lancashire in 1973) have better returns for Sussex in the 36-year history of one-day cricket.

Adams is aware of the threat Ntini will pose in the Championship match which starts tomorrow. He worked up a considerable head of steam with the new ball, bowling Matt Prior with one which cut back sharply and forcing Richard Montgomerie to fend a ball which lifted to second slip.

Adams and Goodwin put on 61 in 15 overs for the third wicket but Sussex stalled when Adams picked out long on trying to hit Loudon over the top.

When Yardy and Carl Hopkinson followed cheaply Sussex were wobbling but Goodwin judged the run chase to perfection with the help of Robin Martin-Jenkins.