Richardson took four wickets

But Leatherdale was joined by fellow veteran Stuart Lampitt in a dogged, unbroken stand to bring up victory with nine balls to spare.

Bears skipper Michael Powell suffered after using his four front-line bowlers in search of the killer blow.

And he was forced to bowl himself, in tandem with Ian Bell's off-spin in the last four overs.

Leatherdale faced 92 balls in total, hitting five boundaries, while Lampitt was 20 not out from 61 deliveries.

Bichel form continues

Warwickshire suffered a similar batting collapse having won the toss, but it continued to see them bowled out in 44.4 overs, losing their last seven wickets for 31 runs.

Aussie fast bowler Andy Bichel continued his excellent form, sparking the capitulation with two wickets, and taking total figures of four for 24.

Bichel contributed another four wickets

Nick Knight's departure for two was followed quickly by the loss of two more wickets.

The hosts were 37 for three when Dougie Brown was bowled by Kabir Ali, and it was a slow process for Bell (41) and Powell to get the innings back on the rails.

The pair crawled to 99 before Bichel removed Powell for 30, and Worcestershire were not hesitant in finishing the job.

Warwickshire: N V Knight, N M K Smith, D R Brown, I R Bell, M J Powell (Capt), T L Penney, S M Pollock, K J Piper (Wkt), M A Sheikh, N M Carter, A Richardson.

Worcestershire: S D Peters, V S Solanki, G A Hick (Capt), B F Smith, D A Leatherdale, G J Batty, A J Bichel, S J Rhodes (Wkt), Kabir Ali, S R Lampitt, M Mason.

Umpires: G I Burgess and J W Lloyds