After a week's break in the T20 Blast in England, the tournament returned yet again with a plethora of high scores. Leading the line was one Sam Hain, who plays for Birmingham Bears, and wreaked havoc with the bat against Nottinghamshire. Hain played an innings of 112 runs in 52 balls with 12 fours and five sixes and a staggering strike rate of 215.38. This helped his team to a mammoth 261 runs, going on to win the match by 55 runs. This is now the highest total in English T20 history, surpassing Yorkshire's 260 against the same opponents.
Hains set up a massive 174-run partnership with Adam Hose for the third wicket after the second wicket fell for 87 runs. Adam was also at his best with a brilliant unbeaten 88 runs with three fours and 10 sixes to his name. He was batting at a strike rate of 251.42 in 35 balls, as Birmingham lost just two wickets in 20 overs.
Chasing a mammoth target proved too much for Nottinghamshire, who also worked hard with the bat but were unable to replicate Birmingham's a good batting show. They could only reach 206 runs in 18.2 overs losing by 55 runs. Opener Joe Clarke scored the highest 86 runs in 45 balls for Nottinghamshire.
Sam Hain is of British origin but was born in Hong Kong in 1995. He spent his childhood in Australia where Sam learnt to his pinch-hitting skills. But 26-year-old Sam has reiterated his desire to play cricket for England, not Australia. Impressing everyone with his batting in Australia, he was also selected for the U-19 team Australia. This was followed by a call-up to the second division team of England's county team Warwickshire.