WORCESTERSHIRE Royals rebounded from three consecutive defeats in the Twenty20 Cup to bring down Warwickshire Bears by one run at Edgbaston.

A low-scoring contest maintained a high level of thrills and spills for around 17,000 spectators until the Bears mounted a furious assault on Nadeem Malik with 23 needed to win off the last over.

The hapless paceman conceded four wides from a bouncer and was twice carved for six by Heath Streak.

But with two wanted off the last ball to get them home on a count of wickets lost, James Anyon was run out.

Neil Carter took 5-19, the best Twenty20 figures by a Warwickshire bowler, when the Royals were shunted out for a below-par 141.

But the Bears fared even worse, only making 140 and that was largely thanks to Streak's heroics as he added an unbeaten 59 from 32 balls to his bowling return of 3-21.

A new Worcestershire opening pair of Gareth Batty and Graeme Hick blazed away with two boundaries each in the first two overs.

But a double intervention by Streak in three balls saw both Batty and Hick fall.

As the ground filled up, Worcestershire surrendered wickets in another unconvincing batting display.

Ben Smith edged to slip in an authentic dismissal for Dewald Pretorius but most of the others were caught up in the Twenty20 cricket frenzy.

Zander de Bruyn (21) had some success until he missed a full toss from Anyon and Carter began his golden night with first-ball joy to dismiss Stephen Peters.

Stephen Moore (21) carved two sixes before pulling Streak to mid-wicket and when top scorer David Leatherdale (32) holed out off Carter, the rest subsided in a whirlwind of rash strokes and faultless catching.

The home side were in trouble from the outset. After losing their openers in the first two overs to Matt Mason and Malik, they hit the self-destruct button when Jim Troughton and Ian Bell were run out.

Batty's off-spin accounted for two middle-order wickets and De Bruyn took two in his opening over before Streak extended a match that finished in steady drizzle.

Worcestershire need to maintain the momentum at home to Gloucestershire today.