DAVID Willey smashed 70 off 38 balls before Tim Bresnan and Azeem Rafiq took three wickets apiece as Yorkshire hammered Birmingham Bears in a one-sided NatWest T20 Blast clash at Headingley.

The Vikings clinched their second North Group win at the fifth attempt by 29 runs to make the perfect start to a crucial run of three home games in six days.

Willey smashed four fours and six of 12 sixes in the innings as the hosts posted 179-5, having been invited to bat first by Ian Bell.

Bresnan then struck twice with the new ball and Willey once as the Bears slipped to 31-3 in the fifth over of their chase and finished with 150 all out in 18 overs.

All-rounder Bresnan finished with 3-21 from three overs as Yorkshire dominated three quarters of this clash.

They raced out of the blocks with the bat as Adam Lyth, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Willey all hit sixes in the power play, which finished with the score at 62-2.

Lyth hammered the sixth ball of the match from Keith Barker over long-on before slapping Boyd Rankin to cover to fall two balls into the second.

Kohler-Cadmore pulled Rankin over mid-wicket for successive sixes in the fifth over to move to 27 before edging the next ball behind.

Willey continued to put the visitors under pressure. He took 20 of 21 off former White Rose seamer Oliver Hannon-Dalby in the sixth over, including a huge pull over backward square-leg which cleared the White Rose Stand and went out of the ground.

He shared 83 in 8.1 overs with Shaun Marsh for the third wicket before falling run out coming back for two to long-leg as the score fell to 124-3 in the 13th.

From there, Yorkshire – who hit ten of their 12 sixes in the first 9.3 overs – were pegged back as Birmingham enjoyed their best period of the game.

While Rankin claimed three wickets, he conceded 39 from his four overs. But seamers Barker and New Zealander Colin de Grandhomme were impressive as the visitors only conceded 45 off the last five overs, including just four off Barker in the 19th.

Still, they were unable to capitalise as their top order crumbled to 58-6 in the eighth over.

Bresnan struck twice in his first two overs to get Sam Hain caught and bowled and Bell caught at mid-on for six, before Tim Ambrose miscued Willey to mid-wicket.

When Adil Rashid trapped Grant Elliott lbw with his third ball in the sixth over and Will Porterfield was run out next ball, the Bears were 49-5.

De Grandhomme fell to Rafiq in the next and the Bears were all but done.

Barker and Aaron Thomason hit 35 and 31 to share 64 for the seventh wicket to give the visitors a sniff. They reached 122-6 after 15 overs, needing 58 more.

But Rafiq removed them both in the 16th over, caught at wide long-on and stumped, to finish with 3-37 from four. Bresnan also picked up his third wicket to wrap up the win.