Steven Mullaney hit a career-best 79 and shared a partnership of 114 with Dan Christian, but Notts Outlaws came up short in a high-scoring clash with Yorkshire Vikings at Headingley.

Chasing 202/5, Mullaney amassed his runs off 46 deliveries and Christian hit a 35-ball 56 to fight back after some testing opening overs, but the mountain proved too high as the Outlaws mustered 179/7, defeated by 23 runs.

There were wickets in the Vikings’ innings for Jake Ball, Calvin Harrison, and Samit Patel, the former of whom claimed three, but two half-century partnerships underpinned the hosts' charge past 200.

For the second day in a row, Dan Christian won the toss and again opted to field first, and the Outlaws found early joy in the powerplay when Ball struck twice in two overs.

Both openers fell to the right-armer, with Finn Allen pinned by a yorker and Adam Lyth seeing his off-stump knocked back to leave the hosts 43/2, before David Willey and Harry Brook fought back with a stand of 76.

Harrison was the man to end the partnership as he saw Willey caught by Steven Mullaney at long-off for 34, before Brook was bowled by Patel in the next over for 40.

A partnership of 55 between Will Fraine and Jonny Tattersall took the hosts to 188/4 in the penultimate over before Fraine became Ball’s third victim, caught at deep midwicket by Ben Duckett.

Tattersall was unbeaten on 48 when Yorkshire concluded their innings by edging past 200, and the Outlaws soon found themselves hampered when Alex Hales was bowled by Willey in the first over of the reply.

The arrival of Mullaney to the crease was preceded by Samit Patel and Joe Clarke also falling in the powerplay, and the Lancashire-born all-rounder wasted no time in fighting back against the White Rose county.

His second ball, bowled by Willey, went for a smartly-driven four, and he hit Jordan Thompson for another boundary to bring up the team fifty even as Duckett and Tom Moores were dismissed.

Much like Mullaney, Christian also cracked his second ball for a boundary, and it was the Australian who hoisted Jack Shutt over long-on for a maximum to bring up the fifty partnership and take the Outlaws' total past 100.

The duo continued to trade in boundaries as they combined to strike consecutive sixes between them, the first of which brought Mullaney a 31-ball fifty, before they followed it up with a four each off Jordan Thompson.

A further 11 came off Dominic Drakes’ 17th over, which included another Mullaney six, to pass 150, before Christian slapped Thompson for a straight four to bring up his own fifty, also off 31 deliveries.

However, the final turning point in the game arrived when the duo both fell in the space of five deliveries, leaving Harrison and Matt Carter the task of hitting 37 off eight balls to win.

Carter struck Matthew Revis for six in the final over, but Revis closed the game out for the hosts.

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