DIRECTOR of Cricket Tom Moody believes Worcestershire Royals are good enough to become Norwich Union League Division One champions after storming to the top of the table with a nerve-jangling four-run win over Warwickshire Bears at New Road.

The County occupy the number one spot thanks to a superior net run rate than Warwickshire.

Moody, whose triumphant team have a game in hand over the Bears, said: "We are a long way away from winning the league but I think we are a good enough side to win it.

"There's no question about that, but this is very early days and we just need to keep on playing well in all the different departments of the game. If we do that then we will find ourselves up near the top at the end."

The County, boosted by an undefeated century from Vikram Solanki, clinched their fourth league success of the season despite a remarkable 111 not out by Shaun Pollock.

He thrilled the 2,565 crowd with one of the most hard-hitting and entertaining innings seen at New Road for a long time.

Moody said: "It was obviously an extraordinary innings. He just showed his world class all-round ability. That innings aside we totally controlled the game, but he got them back within a whisker of winning."

The Benson and Hedges Cup winners needed six off the final ball, bowled to Pollock by Australian pace star Andy Bichel, to reach a victory target of 233 after they had crashed to 76-6.

"Andy showed his experience and made sure the last delivery was right in the block hole and he couldn't get underneath it," said Moody, whose side came under threat following a 134-run stand in 20 overs between Pollock and Trevor Penney, who was limping badly and needed a runner.

Moody said of Penney: "You have always got to be wary of the wounded warrior. When someone is injured they tend to pull out something special and Penney played a nice little cameo in conjunction with Pollock. It was that which got them back in contention.

"Warwickshire have played an extra game than us, but they were heading the table and it was an important game for us. We wanted to win so we could head the table with a game up our sleeve.

"It puts us in a situation where teams have got to catch us and not us catching anyone else. It was also important because we wanted to play a quality side and win and show we are up to it in one-day cricket. We proved that and we are good enough to go all the way."