Bairstow holds nerve to seal one-wicket win after Notts collapse

Yorkshire ended their Rothesay County Championship season with a third consecutive victory, although ultimately by just one wicket on another day of drama at Trent Bridge.

Needing just 158 to win with more than five sessions left in the match, they suffered a major wobble in which seven wickets fell for 61 runs before skipper Jonny Bairstow flat-batted Pakistan seamer Mohammad Ali for six over cover to clinch the spoils.

It followed an earlier collapse by newly toppled champions Nottinghamshire in their second innings as they crashed from 55 for 3 overnight to 85 all out, losing seven wickets for 30 runs in the space of 17.1 overs.

Jack White took four of those to finish with a season's best 5 for 23, Ben Coad picking up the other three for figures of 4 for 27 as the home side were bowled out for 85.

Will Luxton scored 53 in Yorkshire's chase, with Bairstow 38 not out after left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White and Ali had combined to take Nottinghamshire agonisingly close, their New Zealand wicketkeeper Mitchell Hay's seven dismissals equalling the county's first-class wicketkeeping record.

Nottinghamshire, who looked favourites to retain their 2025 title after winning impressively at the Kia Oval at the start of the closing block of fixtures - and were just four points behind then-leaders Somerset with two matches remaining - finish fourth.

After a season that has seen them at times threatening a title challenge and at others looking nervously at the other end of the table, Yorkshire are fifth.

As play began, Nottinghamshire led by 127 with seven wickets in hand but what was ostensibly a position of strength overnight for Nottinghamshire always depended on how the pitch behaved after favouring the bowlers for the first two days.

And it was immediately clear that there was more than enough in the playing surface for a seam attack with the quality of Yorkshire's to inflict more damage.

White struck with the fourth delivery of the day, finding the outside edge as Jack Haynes defended his off stump. He quickly chalked off another scalp when he drew Ben Martindale into a drive outside off stump and caught the edge again, Dom Bess snaring the catch at third slip.

Hay was beaten past the inside edge to be leg before as White claimed his third of the day, his progress to a belated first five-wicket haul of the season interrupted only by Coad taking two in two balls as Bess grabbed two more catches to remove Patterson-White and Brett Hutton.

Tom Giles, Nottinghamshire's injury replacement for Olly Stone, became victim number five for White before Lyndon James, aggressive enough to launch White for an audacious leg-side six, was cleaned up by Coad to complete the destruction in just short of an hour and a half.

Leading wicket-taker George Hill, needing two more to total 50 first-class wickets or more for the second season in a row, did not get a look-in.

Chasing 158 should have been plain sailing for Yorkshire, especially with Stone out of the game after feeling some hamstring discomfort following his first-innings five-for. Openers Luxton and Adam Lyth gave the innings solid foundation by putting on 54 in 12 overs before Lyth pushed at one outside off stump from Hutton and was caught behind.

It turned out to be anything but as Hutton removed Sam Whiteman via a thin outside edge, then left-arm spinner Patterson-White had James Wharton leg before and Luxton, who had just completed a half-century from 78 balls, lost his composure and was caught off a top edge with an attempted pull.

Needing just 50 more at tea with still six wickets in hand, Yorkshire remained strong favourites. Yet Pakistan seamer Ali bowled Matt Revis with one that shot through and had Bess caught at slip, Hill falling stumped in between - for the second time in the match - to turn the pressure up still further.

Bairstow at last drew on his experience - and mental toughness - to get the job done, hitting two fours and a six in one Ali over, then swishing and missing at four balls of the next before getting the job done.