Warwickshire dragged Glamorgan out of the Vitality Blast qualification race with them by defeating them by four wickets in a thriller at Edgbaston.

Glamorgan were lifted to 188 for four by Will Smale (58 from 36 balls) and Sean Dickson (55 not out from 35). It was a decent total but 200 looked par on an excellent batting pitch.

So it proved as Rob Yates fired 72 (40), his highest Blast score, and Dan Mousley‘s late salvo (38 not out from 23) lifted the Bears to 191 for 6 with one ball to spare despite Ben Kellaway‘s 3 for 35.

The victory came too late for Warwickshire, who suffered a nightmare start to the group, losing their first five games, while the defeat also snuffed out Glamorgan’s hopes. Both teams sit on 20 points but Somerset’s victory at Northampton means that a top-three finish is beyond them both.

After choosing to bat, Glamorgan skipper Kiran Carlson socked Richard Gleeson’s first two balls for four then lifted his fifth to mid-off. Kellaway got off the mark with a glorious six over extra cover off Beau Webster, and added 68 from 39 balls with Smale before nicking Usman Tariq to wicketkeeper Kai Smith. Tariq’s second wicket owed everything to the fielder as Webster took a stunning one-handed catch at short fine leg to remove Asa Tribe.

Smale’s third six, sent into the building site off Jordan Thompson, raised his half-century from 34 balls but the former Yorkshire allrounder’s revenge arrived two balls later. Smale counted the cost of over-improvisation when he stepped outside off, leaving all three stumps exposed, and failed to connect with his attempted sweep.

Dickson and Jimmy Needham came together with 45 balls remaining and used them all to add 74 against an attack in which Warwickshire’s spinners bowled eight overs for 47 (5.8 per over) and the seamers 12 overs for 141 (11.75 per over).

In reply, Warwickshire lost Zen Malik to the eighth ball, which he chipped to mid-off off Kellaway. Webster sliced Mason Crane to short third, but Yates raced to 50 in 27 balls, posting his half-century with his fourth six.

The Bears suffered a wobble when Kellaway removed Sam Hain, caught at short third, and Yates, caught behind, and they went into the last three overs needing 33. Mousley smote a brace of Nathan McAndrew full tosses for six and four to bring it down to 13 from the last over, bowled by Neesham.

Two single from the first three balls left the Bears needing fireworks from the last three but then came a nightmare for Neesham, a full toss no-ball which Mousley pulled for six, and another six next ball settled the issue.