England’s next generation offered a promising glimpse of their white-ball future as Will Jacks, Sam Hain and Rehan Ahmed all starred in a 48-run win over a full-strength Ireland.

Jacks’ 94 off 88 balls contained seven fours and four sixes, contrasting with a more understated 89 off 82 deliveries from Hain, but the duo underpinned England’s 334 for eight in the second Metro Bank ODI.

Teenage leg-spinner Ahmed collected four for 54 as Ireland were all out for 286 in 46.4 overs at Trent Bridge against England’s understudies, for whom Phil Salt was the most experienced in his 15th ODI.

Ahead of this de facto series opener after a washout at Headingley earlier this week, England’s XI contained a combined 38 ODI appearances – compared with Ireland’s 720 – as the hosts made use of their deep pool of reserves, with their World Cup stars resting ahead of travelling to India next week.

Hain took top billing among the four England debutants but George Scrimshaw had fluctuating fortunes, bowling six front foot no-balls in his first two overs before rebounding with figures of 8.4-0-66-3.

Jamie Smith and Tom Hartley had more modest outings but this was still an impressive display amid an expected changing of the guard after the World Cup, while Jacks’ dazzling innings may have given the selectors a nudge about being on standby should injury befall the main group in the subcontinent.

Tipped as the successors to Jason Roy and Alex Hales, Jacks and Salt paid a fitting tribute to the pair who revolutionised opening the batting for England in the shorter formats, feasting on Ireland’s fruitless pursuit of early swing with a rash of fours to bring up the 50 stand in the sixth over.

Jacks sumptuously drove the expensive Josh Little for three successive fours but Craig Young found a better length, drawing the splice of Salt’s bat on 28 before stand-in captain Zak Crawley was lbw for a two-ball duck in his first England innings since leading their run-charts in this summer’s Ashes.

England ended the powerplay with Jacks dismissively swiping Barry McCarthy for six as he and Ben Duckett steadily rebuilt from Young’s double strike.

Put down on 44, Jacks went to fifty in style by clearing extra cover off Andy McBrine, who also went the distance off Duckett.

Fellow spinner Dockrell had more luck as Duckett paddled to short fine-leg on 48 to end a run-a-ball 102-run stand with Jacks, who slog swept the slow left-armer for his fourth six to move into the 90s.

Attempting a repeat to reach three figures in Dockrell’s next over, Jacks top-edged to Andy Balbirnie, who took a steepler a few feet in from the deep midwicket boundary.

England added just 140 in the final 20 overs but 15 of those came with Hain as the only frontline batter left after Smith holed out.

Hain, whose List A average of 57.96 is the second highest ever, had a single from his first 11 balls and was put down by a diving Harry Tector from his 12th but he gradually started to find rhythm.

Hain used his feet well to offset the bowlers’ lengths in an unobtrusive 52-ball fifty and while there were few big hits – he managed just eight fours in total – he was responsible for England going past 300. Needing 11 off the last over for his century, he miscued McCarthy to mid-off.

While England had their highest score in ODIs against Ireland, the tourists were aided by Scrimshaw’s repeated front-foot faults.

There were four no-balls in his first over in an England shirt and two, plus a wide, in his next as he leaked an eye-watering 35 having sent down just 11 legal deliveries.

When he drew Balbirnie’s outside edge with his 12th, Scrimshaw forlornly turned round to Rod Tucker after Ben Duckett snaffled the chance but the umpire gave a thumb’s up and patted him on his shoulder.

From the next ball, Paul Stirling, whose 250 List A appearances before Saturday was just 29 fewer than England’s XI combined, chopped on for 25 off 17 balls after Matthew Potts found lavish inward movement.

Ireland were up with the rate but wickets fell at regular intervals, with Ahmed into the act when the dangerous Tector was out for 39 after skewing to a backtracking Jacks.

Googlies from Ahmed snared McBrine and Mark Adair, while the youngest member of England’s XI had his fourth from his penultimate delivery as Dockrell clothed another wrong’un to Salt.

From 188 for eight, England were unable to finish proceedings quickly as Ireland’s last three batters McCarthy (41), Young (40 not out) and Little (29) all recorded ODI bests. But Scrimshaw took the final wicket as Little slammed to long-on to banish thoughts of a remarkable Ireland comeback.

A one-man batting show from Jonny Bairstow was not enough for England as New Zealand sealed a six-wicket win at Trent Bridge to level the T20 series 2-2.

England captain Jos Buttler rested himself for the decider and would have been happy with what he saw as Bairstow smashed 73 from 41 balls at the top of the order, with six sixes and five fours to his name.

That conjured memories of his match-winning Test century against the same opponents at the same ground last summer, but after he holed out in the 12th over England ran out of steam as they slowed to 175 for eight.

Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone both made 26 but neither were fully fluent as the Black Caps reasserted control with their spin contingent, who shared six wickets.

Meanwhile Harry Brook, whose hopes of forcing his way into England’s World Cup squad puts both Malan and Livingstone at some risk, could only manage four.

After finishing the England innings with five for 38 in the last five overs, New Zealand came out firing and made a confident pursuit to complete their comeback from 2-0 down with Buttler making an unexpected substitute’s outing behind the stumps after Bairstow reported a niggle.

Tim Seifert (48), Glenn Phillips (42) and Mark Chapman (40no) combined to take down England, who could not keep a check on the boundary count.

The pick of the home side’s bowling attack was 18-year-old Rehan Ahmed, making his debut on home soil after his rapid rise over the winter.

He was sharp and economical with two for 27 in his four-over allocation and also completed a run out, a timely reminder of his promise almost six months since his last England appearance.

The real business is now set to begin, with a ODI series starting in Cardiff on Friday in what represents a final warm-up for next month’s World Cup in India.

But England, whose evening ended with 16 balls unbowled as Luke Wood mis-fielded to gift the winning runs, will need to sharpen up.

Jonny Bairstow hammered 73 as he carried England to 175 for eight in their T20 series decider against New Zealand.

Bairstow was in bruising form at Trent Bridge, giving the Black Caps an unwanted reminder of last summer’s memorable Test century in Nottingham, nailing six sixes and five fours as he made the most of a 41-ball stay.

With England leading 2-1 at the start of this fourth and final match, Bairstow threatened to drag the game away from the tourists but his departure in the 12th over heralded a shift in momentum.

With captain Jos Buttler resting himself New Zealand snapped up four for 35 to chip away at the middle order and finished well as England managed just 38 off the last five overs. Six wickets fell to spin, with Mitch Santner claiming three for 30.

Bairstow began in electric form as he came out swinging and rendered his opening partner Will Jacks a virtual bystander.

The Yorkshireman, favouring the leg side, jabbed Matt Henry for six over midwicket, milked Santner’s first visit, then greeted Kyle Jamieson by twice heaving him over the ropes. When Tim Southee attempted to exert some contol with a fuller length, he was pumped over long-on.

Jacks, who would later nick Ish Sodhi for 16 to complete a quiet series, was confined to rotating the strike as his partner accounted for 43 of the first 50 runs.

No English batter has ever reached a half-century inside the six-over powerplay before but Bairstow came within two runs of the feat, all at a flamboyant strike rate of exactly 200.

With Jacks gone, Bairstow continued to carry the show, bringing up the England hundred by stepping back and lifting a Santner drag-down for his sixth six. He was gone next ball, looking for another big blow down the ground, but he had left a formidable platform.

England threatened to waste it somewhat as Dawid Malan and Harry Brook – the former in possession of a preliminary World Cup spot that the the latter covets – both failed to convince.

The Brook bandwagon has put pressure on the selectors since he was omitted from the provisional squad for next month’s tournament, but he made four from eight balls and was caught off a modest Sodhi delivery.

Malan made his way to a sluggish 26 but picked out deep square when he tried to pick things up against Santner in the 16th. Moeen Ali went the same way moments later as England threatened to fall away and Sam Curran also came and went quickly.

Liam Livingstone hit a couple of sixes as he chipped in 26 before Henry dismissed him with the closing ball of the innings, while Rehan Ahmed also cleared the ropes on his home international debut. But New Zealand finished strongly, keeping the total well below the predicted peak during Bairstow’s assault.

Birmingham Bears booked a home Vitality Blast quarter-final with a two-wicket victory over North Group rivals Notts Outlaws at a damp Trent Bridge.

The Bears were already sure of a place in the knock-out stages after five straight wins, but found themselves in big trouble on seven for four chasing 169 as Pakistan paceman Shaheen Afridi took four wickets in the first over.

However, opener Rob Yates put together a calm 65, with Jacob Bethell and Jake Lintott both making 27, to see them home with five balls to spare.

Although Tom Moores had earlier hit a swift 73, the Outlaws always looked to be under par after being bowled out for 168 in their 20 overs.

The Outlaws now need to beat Leicestershire Foxes at Trent Bridge in their final game to join the Bears in the last eight.

Lancashire Lightning saw their derby showdown against Yorkshire Vikings at Emirates Old Trafford abandoned without a ball bowled because of heavy rain.

With the points shared, second-placed Lancashire are still not secure of progression, but Yorkshire miss out having needed victory to keep their hopes of qualification alive.

Worcestershire’s match against Durham ended in a tie on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern after bad light brought an early end at New Road.

Durham opener Graham Clark had made 78 from 47 balls with Michael Jones (39), Brydon Carse (39) and Ashton Turner (33 not out) also making useful contributions in their side’s 216 for four.

The Rapids were 112 for three after 11 overs, with New Zealander Mitchell Santner making a swift 42 and Adam Hose unbeaten on 16.

With a point each, Durham’s quarter-final hopes are over, while the Rapids need to win at Derbyshire on Sunday to progress.

Tom Wood struck a maiden T20 century to drive Derbyshire Falcons to a 71-run win over Leicestershire Foxes which keeps their qualification hopes alive.

Wood smashed an unbeaten 110 – with 12 fours and four sixes from 57 balls – while fellow opener Harry Came made 56 as the Falcons posted 231 for four, their highest T20 total.

Peter Handscomb lead the Foxes’ reply with 61, but Zaman Khan took three for 27 as Leicestershire finished 160 all out.

Derbyshire now need to beat Worcestershire to have a chance of making the quarter-finals.

Tom Banton’s fine 84 helped South Group leaders Somerset pull off an 18-run win over Surrey at the Oval.

Somerset, who had already secured a home quarter-final, made 208 for five after being put in to bat.

New Zealand duo Matt Henry (four for 30) and Ish Sodhi (three for 33) then helped limit Surrey to 190 for nine in reply, leaving them needing to beat Essex to stay in the mix for the runners-up spot.

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At the Ageas Bowl, Australian Ben McDermott struck 54 to put defending champions Hampshire Hawks in prime position for a quarter-final spot with a 21-run DLS win over Glamorgan.

Hampshire reached 97 for two in 9.2 overs before a rain delay, and Glamorgan were set 83 in six overs.

Despite Colin Ingram’s quickfire 34, good defensive bowling saw Glamorgan restricted to 54 for one as Hampshire moved level with Surrey in second place on 16 points.

Ravi Bopara’s fine century helped Sussex Sharks beat Kent Spitfires by 11 runs in another rain-hit match at Canterbury.

Bopara made his highest T20 score of 108 as Sussex posted a formidable 228 for seven.

In reply, Kent were 31 for one when heavy rain set in, and a revised DLS target was set of 129 from 10 overs.

Although Alex Blake made 30 and Jordan Cox an unbeaten 37, it always looked a tough run chase, and the hosts finished on 117 for four.

Middlesex beat Essex by two wickets in a high-scoring clash at Chelmsford to dent the Eagles hopes of making the quarter-finals.

All-rounder Ryan Higgins hit a swift 61 and Martin Andersson’s unbeaten 24 saw Middlesex home in the final over, despite Matt Critchley’s career-best five for 28.

Essex had made 225 for six, with 69 not out from Daniel Sams, but now head to the Oval on Sunday needing victory over Surrey to stand any chance of progress.