EVALUATING how to contain county batsmen remains Scotland’s biggest challenge in their adjustment to this competition’s new format. Ryan Watson made 84 off 115 balls and Ian Moran, a new all-rounder and a member of the New South Wales one-day squad, scored 45 but Nottinghamshire accelerated to a target of 193 with 9.4 overs in hand.

They did so through the efforts of Will Smith, aged 23, and Samit Patel, 21, who made their highest limited-overs scores and shared an unbroken partnership of 185 in 36 overs, Nottinghamshire’s second biggest in the competition’s history. Scotland, with six players over 30, endured hard labour in the field.

Smith scored 95, with 12 fours and a six, off 107 balls, with Patel making 93 from 122 balls with ten fours and a six after the combined efforts of the Nottinghamshire bowlers, featuring Chris Cairns and Charlie Shreck, imposed strict shackles on Scotland’s run scoring.

Shreck, playing his first competitive match in England since July 2004, confirmed his recovery from a stress fracture of the back, and Cairns, the former New Zealand bowler signed on a short-term contract, returned four for 30, including the wicket of Moran.