Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire: Yorkshire suffer savage beating as hosts Notts reach new high

The visitors made it two losses out of two in the North Group as they were put to the sword at Trent Bridge.

After winning the toss, Nottinghamshire made 215-6 – their highest Twenty20 score – on the back of blistering innings from Adam Voges (74) and Samit Patel (52).

Only Derbyshire (222-5 at Headingley last summer) and Leicestershire (221-3 at Headingley in 2004) have scored bigger against Yorkshire, who managed only 162-8 in reply as their season continued in disappointing vein.

With 14 Twenty20 group games to go, the situation is hardly beyond repair for Andrew Gale’s men.

Victories in their next two matches, at home to Worcestershire on Thursday and away to Lancashire on Friday, would get their campaign firmly back on track.

But although Yorkshire continue to produce moments of quality, they are struggling to summon the perfect performance.

They lived with Nottinghamshire for much of this match – Yorkshire were 82-2 at the halfway stage, whereas the home side had been 81-3 – only to fall short at the crucial moments.

In the final analysis, the pivotal moments yesterday arrived between overs 10 and 15 of the Nottinghamshire innings, during which 74 runs flowed despite the lifting of fielding restrictions.

It was the product of a breathless assault by Voges and Patel, who quite savagely destroyed the bowling.

The key impetus was provided by Patel, who struck four sixes en route to a 21-ball half-century – including three in four deliveries off off-spinner Joe Root.

Root’s solitary over – the 15th of the innings – disappeared for 22 runs, while Rashid (17) and Ryan Sidebottom (16) also conceded expensive overs.

Yorkshire’s batting reply had to be seen in the context of what had gone before.

They had to make not only their highest Twenty20 total to win but to score at 10.8 runs an over throughout.

Once top-scorer Adam Lyth (43) was out to leave Yorkshire 114-3 in the 13th over, a mountainous task had reached Everest proportions.

In an effort to club quick runs, six batsmen fell for 31 runs in five overs on a day when Patel, Darren Pattinson, Ben Phillips and Andy Carter each claimed two wickets.

Perversely, the match had begun promisingly for a Yorkshire side unchanged following Friday’s five-wicket defeat against Warwickshire.

Rashid struck with the third ball of the innings when he had Riki Wessels caught by Sidebottom at short third-man, the batsman throwing away his wicket with a hideous reverse-sweep.

Another giveaway followed when Alex Hales slashed a full toss from Sidebottom to point, Rich Pyrah claiming an instinctive catch as Nottinghamshire slipped to 23-2 in the fourth over.

The loss of early wickets meant the home side could not accelerate with freedom during the first six overs of power play and had to first of all stabilise their innings.

They did so during a splendid third-wicket partnership between Voges and David Hussey, who prospered through proper cricket shots as opposed to brute slogging to add 53 in 34 balls.

Both Australians targeted the short square boundary on the Bridgford Road side, Hussey making room to hoist Rashid over it with an off-side six and Voges pulling a Pyrah full-toss high into its rafters.

Only when Hussey tried to loft Wainwright for a straight six towards the pavilion – always a huge and risky shot on this ground – did Yorkshire reassert themselves, Root judging a good catch as Hussey perished for 28 to leave Nottinghamshire 76-3. But Voges and Patel then sped the game away, the former reaching fifty from 35 balls.

Voges eventually fell when he got a leading edge to Anthony McGrath’s first ball and was caught by Root running in from deep mid-on, ending a stand of 94 with Patel in 43 balls that left Nottinghamshire 170-4 in the 17th over.

Patel departed four balls later when he tried to scoop McGrath over fine-leg but succeeded only in skying to Steve Patterson.

Chris Read rubbed salt into gaping wounds by thrashing an unbeaten 34 from 14 balls – including a pulled six and a straight six off Sidebottom, plus a slashed six over cover off McGrath.

The other batsman to fall was Steven Mullaney, who sliced to cover in the penultimate over off McGrath, who claimed Twenty20 career-best figures of 3-17.

After an encouraging start, Yorkshire’s reply disintegrated.

Gale was bowled trying to scoop to leg; Jonny Bairstow gave catching practice to long-off; Lyth was caught at long-on; McGrath went lbw trying to work to leg; Gerard Brophy was brilliantly held at deep mid-wicket; Root picked out cover; Rashid lobbed to mid-on and Pyrah was also caught at cover.

In Twenty20 terms, it was a bit of a tonking.