The Hundred Men Competition, Edgbaston

Birmingham Phoenix 214-4 (100 balls): Clarke 68 (33); Harrison 2-27

Trent Rockets 204-7 (100 balls): Banton 67 (32); Tariq 2-36

Birmingham Phoenix won by 10 runs

Scorekeeper. Table

Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets ended this year’s Hundred Run drought with a high-scoring contest at Edgbaston, which the home team edged out by 10 runs.

Phoenix posted 214-4, the second-highest total in tournament history behind Oval Invincibles’ 226-4 last year, and with the Rockets’ response of 204-7, it was the first time 400 runs were scored in a game overall.

The 29 six-hitters in both innings were also a record hundred.

Joe Clarke and Will Smeed scored fifties in Phoenix’s good start as the pair added 104 off just 49 balls for the first wicket.

After Clarke fell for 68 off 33 balls and Smeed 51 off 28, Rehan Ahmed and Donovan Ferreira ensured that the bright start was not in vain.

The pair smashed 63 off just 22 balls for the third wicket, as Ahmed hit five sixes in his 25-ball 48, while Ferreira added a valuable cameo of 22 not out off just nine deliveries.

In response, the Rockets got off to a positive start as openers Finn Allen and Ben Duckett added 65 off 29 balls, but the chase began to go awry when the pair fell for 43 and 49 respectively.

Tom Banton kept Rockets’ hopes alive with a fifty-ball fifty off 26, but seamer Scott Currie held his nerve at the death to bowl him out for 67 with an improbable need for 29 off the last seven balls and Phoenix wrapped up the victory.

On a difficult night for bowlers, Rockets’ Calvin Harrison’s 2-27 figures were an outlier.

Phoenix’s entries were the sixth time the tournament has surpassed 200 and brought much-needed life to this year’s edition after a run of relatively low scores – the previous highest total was just 144.

The match also eased concerns about the quality of the field after the Phoenix women were bowled out for 64 earlier in the day.