SAM Hain continued his remarkable run-scoring record for Birmingham Bears at Trent Bridge – but even that was not enough to secure victory on Friday.
Hain made an unbeaten 92 off 49 balls in Bears’ Vitality Blast opener against Nottingham Outlaws.
But his innings was eclipsed as the Outlaws pulled off a record-breaking victory.
Jack Haynes was the match-winner with an unbeaten 89 off 41 balls, with three sixes, as the home side countered the Bears’ 226 for five with 229 for three – the biggest score they have achieved to win a match batting second in their T20 history.
That was after skipper Joe Clarke’s 23-ball 58 had provided a platform for the win.
Hain has batted seven times against Outlaws on the ground since his first visit in 2016 and has been not out six times, including his career-best unbeaten 112 in 2022, giving him an average of 505 in those fixtures.
He hit six sixes in a team tally of 14, with Ed Barnard hammering four in his 28-ball 55.
Australian all-rounder Daniel Sams took two for 39 on his Outlaws debut but Conor McKerr’s analysis of 4-0-67-0 is the worst by a Notts player in T20 history – yet in the end it was not enough.
The Outlaws had needed 22 from the last two overs but Haynes took 18 and two leg byes off Barnard, before Tom Moores found the boundary to clinch a seven-wicket win with five balls to spare.
The Bears stumbled to 12 for two from 15 deliveries after being put in, with New Zealand batter Tom Latham – a first Outlaws wicket for Sams – and Rob Yates back in the hut. Yet Hain and Alex Davies plundered 46 runs from the next 21 balls, Hain lapping McKerr for the night’s first six before Davies cleared the rope off Dillon Pennington and Sams for 58 for two from six overs.
Davies collected his third maximum as Calvin Harrison joined the attack and though he top-edged the leg-spinner to be caught at deep backward square for 40 from 22 balls, the momentum remained with the Bears, who were 103 for three after 10.
Barnard was quickly up to speed, hammering four sixes in a 28-ball 55, one of which disappeared into the sheets and scaffolding currently encasing the pavilion. He fell in search of another, superbly caught by Harrison on the run at deep mid-wicket.
Sams (two for 39) bowled George Garton, but Hain raised his sixes tally to six with two more off the unfortunate McKerr.
Warwickshire have made three of the five highest scores against Notts in this format, all made in the last five seasons, all at Trent Bridge.
Clarke helped Outlaws to a superb start, the skipper hitting four sixes of his own to be 58 from 22 in a powerplay score of 88 without loss. His luck ran out when he found the fielder at deep backward square off Danny Briggs as skipper Davies brought his spinners into the game, Jake Lintoff then having Lyndon James caught at long-off.
Yet Haynes and Henriques – the other Aussie all-rounder making his Outlaws’ debut – put their side right back in it with an exhilarating stand of 101 in just 57 balls before the latter holed out to wide long-on for 34 (27 balls), leaving 31 needed from three overs.
Hain told the Bears’ official website: “We were pretty content after 20 overs, but this is a ground where you never know what a good score is, especially with a short boundary.
“Although anytime you’re chasing 200 plus in a T20 game, it’s a big ask.
“But Joe and Haynesy batted well there and they were the difference really. That partnership at the top of the innings took the game away from us a little bit and we were just trying to pull it back from there.
“You can look back on the game at where you might have lost, but T20 is a game that is all about fine margins.
“On another day we would’ve got a few wickets in the middle part of the innings and the outcome might have been different. But we dust ourselves down and go again. No point in getting too down about it.
“I’m aware of my record here and that probably creates a bit more pressure as I’m driving up. I actually had an indoor net earlier and I hit them terribly, but I’ve played enough games of T20 to know what it’s about and luckily the fine margins were in my favour here.”
