Birmingham 261 for 2 (Hain 112*, Hose 88*) beat Nottinghamshire 206 (Clarke 86, Moores 40, Brathwaite 3-31) by 55 runs

Hain is surely the best 50-over batter never to play for England and, as his career progresses, his strike rate is quickening in T20, too. His unbeaten 112 (his first in this format) took 52 balls, with 12 fours and five sixes, and unusually for scores of this magnitude, he was not leg-side dependent. His first fifty passed by almost unnoticed, which might be his habit, but it was quite a feat on a record-breaking night like this. Perception is all. He does not quite fit England's gung-ho image and, if he can't get a gig on a tour of the Netherlands, it may be forever thus. Still, at least he can point to a T20 average at Trent Bridge of 411.

Hose's 88 from 35 balls, with three fours and 10 sixes, had more of a leg-side emphasis, although not exclusively. Dan Christian's medium pace was brutally punished, his three overs costing 59, his last two overs conceding six sixes, as Hose smashed 28 from his last of the innings.

Trent Bridge was parched, drain lines on the outfield clearly visible, beige advancing upon green by the hour. The outfield was like glass and the boundary on the Fox Road side of the ground had also been brought in to an excessive extent. No hover cover needs that much room. Nottinghamshire will argue that they were merely balancing the boundary distances with the pitch set well over to the other side of the ground, but they were probably happy to take on Birmingham in a six-hitting contest. They lost it 18-9.

Since Test outfields improved their drainage a decade or more ago, it only takes a heatwave to last a couple of days for bowlers to feel bereft. The most forlorn sight of the opening overs came from a drone shot of the ground as Patel set off from short fine lag in hopeless chase of several sweep shots which had crossed the boundary before he had got into his stride. Notts generally looked flat in the field, an uncommon sight for the Trent Bridge crowd which began to stream away long before the end.

Peter Moores, Notts' coach, was left to respond to those who felt a little sated by the experience. "I take the point that there's more to cricket than fours and sixes but I'd just say this was one of those nights, far from the usual. And it was great entertainment. I'd say let's take it for what it is: one of those nights, a brilliant pitch to bat on, brilliant weather to watch it. Not every game will be like that."