On a rainy Finals Day, the sun shines on Nottinghamshire

For the best part of two and half days, Birmingham was submerged under a deluge of English rain. It rained, it was grey and it was cold. And then it rained some more. Finals Day was pushed into a reserve day for the first time in its history and the reserve day was given a reserve day. Nobody was surprised. It is October for crying out loud. But suddenly, in a final surreal moment to end this most surreal of summers, the rain stopped, play miraculously started and Edgbaston was bathed in the most unexpected bright sunshine. In the blink of an eye, Birmingham had become Barbados. Well, almost.

The umpires calculated that they could squeeze in two semi-finals of eleven overs a side and then a final of 16 overs per innings. It wasn't quite T20 but after a day and a half watching seals, otters and whales swim past the ground, it would do. The ground staff had done a miraculous job to get the ground fit for play. And at the end of proceedings, under dark skies and in single digit temperatures, Nottinghamshire were crowned the winners, having convincingly defeated Surrey in the final. It was their second T20 Blast title in the last four years.

Surrey and Notts were deserved finalists. Surrey's semi-final victory against Gloucestershire made it nine wins in a row in the tournament while Notts have been one of the most consistent teams in the Blast for a number of years now and had proved their class in the group stages once again, winning the north division comfortably. In the end, their victory in the final, by the margin of six wickets and with 16 balls remaining, was similarly comprehensive.

Surrey's total of 127-7 appeared a way short at the halfway stage and so it proved. Hashim Amla wasted ten balls during the PowerPlay, making just three runs before sacrificing himself and then they lost their way badly after a swashbuckling third wicket partnership of 90 between Jason Roy and Laurie Evans, scoring just 13 from the last 16 deliveries of their innings, losing five wickets in the process. And although a good opening burst with the ball gave them hope of defending their total, the men in the green and gold simply had too much depth.

Unlike many counties, Notts bat deep in T20 cricket, with power throughout their order. As a result, the loss of early wickets is less of a problem. Despite losing three inside the first four overs, the incoming batsmen didn't just sit in. They kept their foot to the floor. Peter Trego came into the XI for Chris Nash, who injured himself in the semi-final, epitomised that approach with a punchy innings which reversed Surrey's initial momentum. He hit three boundaries off an over from Jamie Overton and five in all, plus a six.

At the other end, opener Ben Duckett kept his head with the clear intention of wanting to be there at the end. He realised his objective, hitting the boundary that secured Notts' victory and batting through the innings. Duckett remains on England's radar - he was included in the white-ball bubble earlier this summer - but remains behind a lot of other batsmen right now. Even so, he finished the Blast with 340 runs at an average of more than 40, a reminder of his capabilities.

Surrey will rue that sluggish finish with the bat and a rusty display with the ball and in the field. Overton bowled one over for 16. Liam Plunkett bowled one over for 17. After two excellent overs with the new ball, Topley's third went for 17. There were six no balls and six wides altogether and at least two misfields which went for boundaries. Defending a below par total, Surrey had to be on it. Instead, they were off it. "Losing is never an easy thing and we probably didn't do ourselves justice in the final game of this season," Gareth Batty, their captain, said.

It will be doubly disappointing given how Surrey dominated the opening semi-final. Gloucestershire never really got out of first gear, mustering just 73 runs from their eleven overs, committing the twin crimes of failing to find the boundary and facing too many dot balls. They simply failed to adapt to a sluggish surface and ended up hitting just four fours and two sixes in their innings. It proved no match for Surrey who barely broke a sweat in their pursuit, sealing a six wicket victory with consummate ease. Their opponents headed back to Bristol knowing they didn't really give things a go.

Nottinghamshire looked to be on their way to a similarly comfortable victory in the second semi-final before losing three wickets in ten deliveries to Lancashire's spinners. It momentarily threatened to derail their chase but then captain Dan Christian bludgeoned four consecutive sixes off Liam Livingstone to take his side out of trouble. In a foretaste of what was to come in Surrey's innings in the final, Lancashire's challenge faltered in the final stages of their first innings when they mustered just 20 runs from the final 17 balls, without a boundary. Their lack of hitting power at the death cost them.

A lack of power is not something you would associate with Nottinghamshire who are good value for their title. When the winning runs were scored, the players and coaches in the stands, socially distanced of course, celebrated loudly and exuberantly. Normally, they would have been backed up by a packed house. Not this year, clearly. Instead, their celebrations in the eerie echoes of an empty Edgbaston was a fitting end to this strange, surreal summer.

It has been a summer that nobody will ever forget. A summer of cricket we never thought we would have, the like of which we never want to see again. Eventually, on this final day of the season and the summer as a whole, the sun shone and cricket was played. Let's simply be thankful for that. Congratulations to Nottinghamshire, commiserations to Surrey. Until next year.