Ultra-professional Yorkshire lay down one-day marker of intent

A staggering 18 of the 22 men on view had represented their country, including eight current England internationals.

It should have guaranteed a gripping game, but it was actually a stunning non-event.

For that, the Trent Bridge crowd had Yorkshire to thank, the visitors delivering a high-quality, ultra-professional display that turned a fascinating match on paper into a cruise.

After Yorkshire sent Notts into bat beneath cloudy skies, they dismissed them for 185 with 9.5 overs of the 50 unused.

Brendan Taylor top-scored with 60 from 59 balls, Riki Wessels hit 41, and former Yorkshire batsman Michael Lumb struck 35.

There were three wickets for Tim Bresnan, two for David Willey, and one apiece for Liam Plunkett, Matthew Fisher, Adil Rashid and Azeem Rafiq.

Plunkett conceded only 35 from 10 overs in an excellent first appearance of the season after a calf injury, while Yorkshire’s fielding was agile and alert.

In reply, the visitors cantered home by seven wickets with 17.2 overs to spare.

Joe Root led the way with an unbeaten 75 from 80 balls, his highest List A score for the club, beating his 63 on debut against Essex at Headingley in 2009.

It was a wonderfully composed and clinical innings from Root, who shared in a third-wicket stand of 92 inside 18 overs with Peter Handscomb, who chipped in with a fine 46.

Earlier, Adam Lyth got the run-case off to a flying start with an innings of 35 from 28 balls.

As Yorkshire started their 50-over campaign with a win that inflicted Notts’s second straight defeat in the tournament, what would have particularly disappointed the hosts was the soft nature of their dismissals.

Apart from Billy Root, the 24-year-old brother of Joe, all the frontline batsmen fell in self-inflicted fashion.

Alex Hales tamely tapped back to the bowler to give Rafiq a wicket with his first ball, which left Notts 43-1 in the 11th, and fellow opener Lumb clobbered Fisher straight to Adam Lyth at mid-wicket.

It was some catch from Lyth, whose reflexes are as good as anyone’s, and it ended a threatening innings from Lumb that included six boundaries.

Notts fell to 71-3 in the 20th when Samit Patel carelessly pulled Rashid to Fisher at mid-on, but they rebuilt through a fourth-wicket stand of 65 in 10 overs between Taylor and Wessels.

That looked to have put them back on track only for Wessels to needlessly help Willey into the hands of substitute fielder Jack Leaning at backward square-leg, triggering a collapse that saw the last seven wickets fall for 49 runs in 68 balls.

Billy Root, playing only his second List A game and his first professional fixture against his brother, was not culpable in the sense that he got a good one from Bresnan that angled across him and took the edge to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.

Chris Read clipped Plunkett to Bresnan to perish for a six-ball duck, and Notts’s plight was summed up when James Pattinson ran himself out after driving Fisher to cover, where athletic fielding from Rafiq stopped the batsman regaining his ground after a single was contemplated.

Stuart Broad cracked a couple of boundaries in a cameo from No 9, but Notts lost their last three wickets in the space of nine balls as Yorkshire made sure they finished them off.

Bresnan had Taylor caught at deep mid-wicket by Root, and then he removed Jake Ball with the help of a brilliant catch by Bairstow, who flew to his right to hold a flashing edge.

The innings ended when Broad pulled Willey to Lyth at deep mid-wicket, Willey’s 100th List A wicket in his 98th match.

Yorkshire’s reply began dynamically when Lyth hit three successive fours off Pattinson.

Bairstow, his opening partner, pulled Harry Gurney for six but departed for 19, lbw to Broad’s first ball from the Pavilion End.

Broad welcomed Joe Root to the crease with a few competitive gestures and looks, and England’s new Test captain answered him sweetly by on-driving him for four to get off the mark.

When Lyth hooked Ball down the throat of Billy Root at deep mid-wicket, Yorkshire were 76-2 in the 12th over.

But Root batted with the ease of someone having a leisurely net as he showed all his class to take charge of the run-chase, pacing his innings in expert style.

At the other end, Handscomb gave him solid support, striking five boundaries before he departed 18 runs out.

It was left to captain Gary Ballance to help Root complete the formalities, Root sealing the victory by pulling his brother for six towards the Larwood and Voce Stand.