Notts Outlaws returned to winning ways against Birmingham Bears thanks in part to superb knocks by Colin Munro and Joe Clarke.

The Outlaws posted 214/3 at Edgbaston, which the Bears could not match, registering 203/9 by the end of their innings.

Shaheen Afridi and Jake Ball took three wickets apiece on an evening that saw Notts take an important victory.

The Bears won the toss and chose to call Joe Clarke and Alex Hales out to bat first.

However, the latter could not find his feet, being clean bowled by a vicious Henry Brookes delivery for one.

Clarke and Munro, however, held their ground, weathering some tough early overs and closing the Powerplay at 40/1.

They had added another 45 by the tenth over with Munro on 59* including six maximums.

Alex Davies was centimetres away from dismissing Munro on 66, but couldn’t extend himself enough to make the diving catch by the wicket.

And Munro clattered the following ball from Jake Lintott for his eighth six of the game, as Notts saw out the eleventh over at 110/1.

The left-handed batter found the boundary with regularity, but couldn’t quite send a Moeen Ali delivery for another maximum. This time, Barnard was ready on the boundary, and executed the catch to end a masterful batting performance; Munro finishing his stint on 87 from 43 balls.

Clarke took 35 balls to reach his half-century, with Notts entering the final quarter of their innings on 159/2.

Brookes took his second wicket of the match with just over two overs to spare, as Tom Moores couldn’t connect with the delivery, being dismissed for 17 having played some eye-catching strokes.

Clever batting from Clarke saw him to 74*, with Notts entering the final two overs on 189/3 and Matthew Montgomery in the middle.

A Lintott drop from Clarke’s shot on the last ball of the innings meant the Outlaws finished on 214/3, with Clarke unbeaten on 89.

Shaheen Afridi was up against Moeen Ali and Davies to begin the chase, and the Bears registered 31 runs before the opening wicket, as Ali sent Afridi’s delivery straight towards Calvin Harrison, who sent the opener packing for 10.

Afridi doubled up two balls later, as Munro snatched the ball with an outstretched arm to dismiss Davies for 19 and put the Bears on 36/2 after three overs, with Glenn Maxwell entering play.

Returnee Jake Ball stepped in to bowl his second over of the game, and Maxwell looped his second delivery into the cupped hands of Steven Mullaney, putting Birmingham on 40/3 and removing the Australian for four.

By the end of the powerplay, the home side were 53/3, with Dan Mousley and Sam Hain at the crease.

The pair formed a stable partnership, and concluded the tenth over at 90/3, but a hefty return was required to turn the match around.

Harrison proved to be the partnership breaker, as his ball was sent into the air by Mousley in the direction of a scampering, tumbling Montgomery, withdrawing the left-hander for 28.

Harrison also proved trouble for his replacement, Chris Benjamin, who departed for five after being clean bowled around his legs.

Barnard joined proceedings, with the Bears on 112/5 after thirteen overs.

The next wicket fell in the 16th over courtesy of Afridi, as his delivery was hit at Harrison, who claimed his second catch of the match to send Barnard packing for 19, with the Bears on 160/6.

Ball was the next to strike as the wickets started to tumble, Brookes finding the hands of a sprawling Mullaney.

But the Bears were starting to find the boundary, before Ball clean-bowled Briggs for a single.

Birmingham needed three sixes to tie the game and found one through Jake Lintott, who hammered the next delivery for a maximum.

But the hope was short-lived, with Lintott run out by Ball in a chaotic sequence of events.

Birmingham finished their innings on 203/9, as the Outlaws took the points away from Edgbaston.

Attention now turns to the double-header, with Outlaws playing Lancashire Lightning tomorrow afternoon.

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