MATCH REPORT: Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Yorkshire men, Vitality Blast

Friday May 22, 2026, 6.30pm 

Trent Bridge 

Toss: Yorkshire won it and elected to bowl.

Teams: Nottinghamshire – Joe Clarke c, Ben Duckett, George Munsey, Jack Haynes, Tom Moores w, Lyndon James, Benny Howell, Joe Pocklington, Olly Stone, Dillon Pennington, Mohammad Ali. 

Yorkshire: Adam Lyth, Jonny Bairstow c/w, Will Luxton, Moeen Ali, James Wharton, Matthew Revis, George Hill, Dom Bess, Logan van Beek, Jafer Chohan, AJ Tye. 

Match summary: Yorkshire made the perfect start to this season’s Vitality Blast, comfortably chasing down a below-par 168 to win by seven wickets with 21 balls remaining. 

They restricted the Outlaws to 167-7 thanks to a polished all-round bowling display which saw spin prosper; Jafer Chohan’s leg-spin accounted for 2-26, while off-spinners Dom Bess and Moeen Ali struck twice and once respectively. 

In reply, Yorkshire fell to 11-2 in the second over, only for captain Jonny Bairstow and James Wharton to do the lion’s share of the work to secure a seven-wicket win inside 17 overs

Bairstow top-scored with 83 not out off 47 balls and Wharton supplemented his work with 55 off 41 balls. They shared 144 for the third wicket. Bairstow hit four sixes and Wharton three.

Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. James Wharton returned from Lions duty to star for Yorkshire this evening.

Report: After George Hill bowled Joe Clarke in the first over, England opener Ben Duckett (29) and George Munsey (28) counter-attacked with effect in good batting conditions.

Moeen Ali handed Duckett a life on 13 by failing to hold a sharp return catch, and he was reverse swept for four immediately. 

Either side of that, Munsey and Duckett shovelled leg-side sixes off Hill and AJ Tye respectively, though Dom Bess had the latter caught at wide mid-off with his second ball in the sixth over – 47-2.

We saw in the women’s game that conditions were good for batting. But the thing which Yorkshire did well in this men’s game was strike at key times.

Jafer Chohan’s leg-spin was next into the wickets column when he had Munsey caught at deep backward square-leg. And when Bess had Jack Haynes caught skewing to backward point for 20, Notts’ were 90-4 after 11 overs. 

Tom Moores looked dangerous and in good order as he moved to 28. But, we go back to that striking at key times point made a moment or so ago. 

He heaved Moeen’s off-spin to deep mid-wicket before Chohan had Lyndon James caught and bowled at the second attempt in the next over as the score slipped to 127-6 after 16.

New Notts’ signing Benny Howell clattered three sixes and was the only home batter to make it to 30. But he was brilliantly caught by Hill running around from long-off towards cover off Tye with the last ball of the innings. 

Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Jafer Chohan impressed with the ball, claiming two wickets this evening.

Yorkshire then lost Adam Lyth and Will Luxton inside 10 balls of their chase, which slipped to 11-2. Lyth was caught at mid-off against Dillon Pennington before fellow pacer Mohammad Ali uprooted Luxton’s leg-stump with a beauty of a yorker.

Thankfully, Bairstow and Wharton expertly wrestled back the momentum.

They initially navigated the threat of Ali before taking others to task.

Wharton took Olly Stone for a couple of fours and a pulled six in the early stages of his spell before Bairstow took on the lead role.

He hit sixes off Howell, Yorkshireman Pocklington – the emerging left-arm spinner – and Stone. 

By the time the 10-over mark was reached, Yorkshire were in command at 94-2 with Bairstow 42 and Wharton 36. The stand was 83 and counting.

Bairstow reached a 32-ball fifty shortly afterwards, and now it was cruise control time at 111-2 after 11.

It wasn’t all power from Bairstow and Wharton. There was finesse in their too. The most important thing, the Notts’ bowlers had no answer – even the returning Ali. 

Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Jonny Bairstow mixed power and poise at Trent Bridge to help get Yorkshire on the board at the first available opportunity.

Wharton pulled him for six as he closed in on what proved to be a 39-ball fifty.

When he got there, the White Rose were 153-2 in the 15th, and it was realistically game over. So it proved, even if Wharton fell late on to Pennington. 

Magic moment: The final ball of the Nottinghamshire innings saw George Hill take a stunner of a catch to help AJ Tye remove Benny Howell. The batter has sliced Tye over the off-side, and it looked a certain boundary. But Hill, running around from long-off towards cover, took a diving catch and managed to keep himself inside the rope. You will see plenty of one-handed stunners, etc, which grab more attention. But this was a proper, proper catch.

Turning point: Yorkshire were 23-2 after four overs of their chase, with Pakistani Mohammad Ali causing the top order issues with his extra pace. But another quick who went the journey was Olly Stone. 

James Wharton took two fours and a pulled six from his first three balls at the start of the fifth over, the pressure was released and the White Rose didn’t look back.

Stat of the match: Yorkshire have won this fixture three times in a row now, triumphing at Trent Bridge in 2023, 2025 and again this evening. 

What they said: Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow – “Pretty good start.It’s always interesting game one with the selection, with how people are going to go about it, the new signings blending in and everything like that. So credit to the guys, the guys we brought in have got a lot of experience.

“It was really calm out there, which is a great start.

Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. That’s the way to an opening night win. Dom Bess contributed two wickets with his off-spin.

“Absolutely (we would have settled for a 168-chase). We kept on taking wickets, which was important. We actually created three more chances as well, so that’s a really good sign.

“Just on the whole, pretty pleased and the guys will take learnings from that. Trent Bridge is a very good place to play cricket Friday night, a good crowd. It’s something to get the juices flowing first game in.

“They bowled well early on, the wicket was doing a bit and that’s ok. But I love this place. When you get on a roll, it’s difficult to stop with the square being so vast but also the outfield being so quick. There was one slightly short side as well.

“But it was just a good performance all round.”

What’s next: Yorkshire face Derbyshire Falcons at Headingley on Sunday, starting at 3.30pm. It is the second part of a daily Blast double header with Yorkshire’s women, who tackle defending champions Surrey from 11.30am.