WORCESTERSHIRE bounced back from their shock defeat against Scotland to crush a weakened Leicestershire side by 61 runs in the C&G Trophy clash at Grace Road.

The Royals posted a total of 191-8 in a game reduced to 45 overs-a-side after a delayed start because of a wet outfield.

But the Foxes slumped to a woeful 29-5 in the first 10 overs of their reply and were eventually dismissed for 130 in 39.1 overs to crash to their third defeat of the season in the revamped competition.

Worcestershire's win yesterday would have been even more emphatic but for a typically pugnacious innings of 67 by wicketkeeper Paul Nixon, who was the last man out having hit three fours and two sixes in a 95-ball knock. Only one other player reached double figures in the Foxes innings. That was tail-ender David Masters who made 12 and shared a partnership of 34 with Nixon -- the biggest of the innings.

Any hopes Leicestershire had of chasing a challenging target disappeared when the top five batsmen could manage only 21 runs between them.

John Maunders was run out for three off the second ball of the innings when he and Darren Maddy went for an all-run four. Maddy also fell for three caught at slip, Dinesh Mongia edged a catch to the wicketkeeper having made four, John Sadler was bowled for seven and Tom New was taken at slip for four.

After that it was only a case of how long the Royals took to clinch victory and at least Nixon's efforts delayed the inevitable and added some semblance of respectability to the Foxes' efforts.

Having produced two reverse sweeps off left-arm spinner Ray Price for sixes in one over the shot finally proved his downfall when he provided a simple catch to square leg off the bowling of Gareth Batty.

That gave the off-spinner a return of 4-27 while there were two wickets apiece for Zaheer Khan and Matt Mason, who both bowled well with the new ball.

Former Leicestershire man Ben Smith was the star of the Worcestershire innings, making 59 off 100 balls before being caught at extra cover trying to drive Masters.

Roger Sillence gave some real impetus to the closing stages of the innings with 44 off 47 balls, including three sixes.

The Foxes' most successful bowler was former Royals man Alangir Sheriyar, who claimed 3-35 at the start of his second spell at Grace Road.

He was with Leicestershire for two seasons before leaving in 1995 and has just signed a contract for the club for this summer.