Ollie Stevenson and Charlie Gadd
Yorkshire Vikings launched their Vitality Blast campaign with a commanding seven-wicket win over Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge, as Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 83 from 47 balls made light work of a below par target of 168.
In front of a bumper crowd of 11,843, Notts posted 167 for 7 after being put into bat, but on a good batting surface it never looked quite enough.
For Notts, the frustration was that they had been in this game more often than the final margin suggested. Several Outlaws batters made starts on ground where par feels modest in white-ball cricket, and 167 gave Notts little margin once Bairstow and Wharton settled.
Bairstow did exactly that for Yorkshire. After the visitors had slipped to 11 for 2 inside the first two overs, the Yorkshire captain rebuilt alongside James Wharton before taking the chase away from Notts in brutal fashion. Their third-wicket stand of 144 from 80 balls was the decisive passage of the match.
Notts’ innings started poorly when Joe Clarke was bowled by George Hill for one, the Yorkshire seamer uprooting his middle stump with his fourth delivery. George Munsey came in at three and, alongside Ben Duckett, steadied Notts through the opening period.
Debutant Munsey threatened to shift momentum back towards the home side, striking the first six of the innings and moving quickly to 28 from 23 balls, but he picked out deep backward square off Jafer Chohan with the score on 80 for 3.
That became the pattern of the Notts innings: promising starts, but no decisive contribution. Jack Haynes made 20 from 14 before slicing Dom Bess to backward point, while Tom Moores reached 28 from 19 only to find Matthew Revis on the leg-side boundary. Lyndon James was then caught and bowled by Chohan for nine, leaving Notts searching for late impetus.
Yorkshire’s spinners were central to keeping the innings in check. Chohan was the pick of the attack with 2 for 26 from his four overs, while Bess took 2 for 27 and Moeen Ali 1 for 19.
Between them, the three spinners claimed five wickets and prevented Notts from building the important middle-over partnerships they needed. On a pitch that looked good for batting, 167 felt light.
Debutant Benny Howell gave the Outlaws a late lift, striking three sixes in a rapid 30 from 13 balls. His cameo pushed Notts beyond 160, but even that came with a sense of missed opportunity.
A tight final over from Australian international Andrew Tye added only seven to the total and removed Howell from the last ball, with Hill taking an excellent catch at wide long-off.
Going into the second innings, Notts needed early wickets, and they got them. Adam Lyth chipped Dillon Pennington to mid-off from the third ball of the reply, before Mohammad Ali, a late addition to the Outlaws squad, produced a near-unplayable leg-stump yorker to bowl Will Luxton.
At 11 for 2 from 10 balls, Yorkshire’s chase looked vulnerable.
But Bairstow and Wharton quickly removed any sense of panic. Wharton took 16 from Olly Stone’s first over, while Bairstow cleared the rope off Howell as Yorkshire ended the powerplay on 50 for 2. By the halfway stage, they were 94 for 2, with the third-wicket pair having taken 31 from two overs to put Yorkshire firmly in control.
Bairstow reached his half-century from 32 balls, and Wharton followed him to fifty from 39 deliveries. Wharton eventually edged Pennington behind for 55 from 41, but with only 13 runs required from five overs, he had already done what was needed.
Bairstow finished the job in style, steering Howell wide of third man for the winning boundary to end unbeaten on 83, having struck nine fours and four sixes. Pennington finished with two wickets but conceded 46 from his four overs, while Mohammad Ali was the tidiest of the Notts seamers with 1 for 27.
Notts will be frustrated, and the key takeaways are obvious. They had starts with the bat and early wickets with the ball, but 167 was light on a strong batting pitch. Once Bairstow and Wharton settled, Yorkshire’s chase became increasingly one-sided.
With the new Blast format, the Outlaws will have to recover quickly if they want to escape the group stages. They have a chance to make amends on the bank holiday Monday when they travel to Old Trafford to take on Lancashire Lightning.
Ollie Stevenson and Charlie Gadd
Featured Image Courtesy of Ollie Stevenson. No changes were made to this image.
