Yorkshire suffered more Friends Life t20 frustration as their top-order again struggled to reach a competitive total and allowed Nottinghamshire Outlaws to claim a convincing victory at Headingley.

After winning the toss and batting first on a good wicket, Yorkshire would have hoped to set the North Group leaders a more challenging target than 152-5.

But they fell away in the middle of their innings, despite impressive displays from captain Andrew Gale and Jonny Bairstow.

It was a total that was always unlikely to challenge the Outlaws, who are closing in on qualification for the quarter-final stage of the competition and completed their six-wicket win with 11 balls remaining.

Yorkshire were undermined from the start, with Joe Sayers brilliantly caught at short extra cover by Riki Wessels off Luke Fletcher in the second over.

Once the power-play was completed after six overs, they failed to score a boundary for nine overs as Notts reduced scoring opportunities with the spin of Graeme White and Adam Voges.

Gale, the only Yorkshire player to score a half-century in the competition this summer, crucially fell with three overs remaining when he was caught at short fine leg for 62 off 55 balls, although Bairstow helped add 43 in the final three overs with an unbeaten 41 off 26 balls.

An illness prior to the match ruled out experienced seamer Ryan Sidebottom and prompted Yorkshire into giving a surprise debut to 26-year-old Iain Wardlaw, who had been spotted by Gale playing for Cleckheaton in the Bradford League.

He did not disappoint and claimed two wickets in his third over to break up a promising 61-run second-wicket stand between Wessels and Tamim Iqbal – who had already been dropped on the boundary by Anthony McGrath – when they were both caught by Adam Lyth attempting to hit down the ground.

Azeem Rafiq briefly lifted Yorkshire’s hopes of salvaging a victory when Voges reverse swept onto his own stumps in the next over.

But captain Chris Read guided Notts home by hitting 26 off 15 balls, including successive sixes off Richard Pyrah.

To dampen Yorkshire’s spirits further, Rafiq tore his hamstring as the game finished and is expected to be out for over a month.

This prompted a recall for David Wainwright, who is currently on loan at Derbyshire.