Yep, it turned out to be one of those games, and it went in our favour. Hamilton-Brown won the toss and elected to bat. Given the very cloudy conditions overhead he might've been tempted to bowl, but because it was a used pitch he thought getting runs on the board was the best bet.
And so it proved. The makeshift opening partnership of Ramprakash and Lancefield got the side off to a good start. Although Lancefield, on debut, probably only completed one genuinely confident stroke, he can be forgiven a few nerves and at least he went hard at the ball. He got himself out for a rapid 16 but Surrey managed to hit 50 before the powerplay was out.
Ramprakash played steadily while Jason Roy, in at number three looked to hit out from ball one, and more or less did so. He's clearly in spectacular form and is without doubt a precocious talent. By the time he was out today for 74 off 50 balls including three terrific sixes, Surrey had mustered a solid 171. I thought at the time we might be 10 or so runs short, but that proved to be complete rubbish.
Hamilton-Brown elected to go with the spin of Spriegel for the first over, which was economical and after Compton fell in Tremlett's first it was encouraging to see the captain toss the ball back to Spriegel for a second. He was richly rewarded as the allrounder picked up two key wickets. Somerset captain Trescothick and the dangerous de Bruyn were accounted for. Tremlett then collected the wicket of Hildreth thanks to a stunning catch from Hamilton-Brown, and Somerset were on the ropes.
Pollard briefly threatened but he was done in by a beauty of a yorker from Stuart Meaker who's first over was pretty dreadful, but the first ball of his second was both vital and pin-point accurate. Thereafter Somerset never looked like recovering and the decision to play just two front line bowlers really paid off for the skipper.
There was plenty of character in the win tonight, incredible energy in the field, flashes of brilliance with both bat and ball and in the end a result that was thoroughly deserved. I can't praise Hamilton-Brown enough tonight, we were without Nel, Davies and Batty, and for some reason Symonds was dropped as well but the players who came in, Lancefield, Meaker and to a lesser extend Wilson really stepped up to the plate. This was an exceptional result which really keeps us in the hunt for a quarter final spot. Well played boys.
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5 comments:
Agree with all of the above. I thought we were superb, but special prIss has to be reserved for Jason Roy. What a knock. I also thought we were ten or so runs light, but that turned out to be rubbish. I was also pleased to see the celebrations at the end. This Surrey team, lead admirably by RHB, seems to live to win and long may it continue.
I thought Roy was outstanding again, one thrashed cover drive sticks in the mind and says to me that this boy is some serious talent, as if i needed telling. Tremlett and Spriegel too deserve singling out for praise. Genuinely impressed by RHB's leadership, he's got this team behind him, somehow, and they want to win for him, that has to be applauded.
Well played Surrey. You deserved to beat a dreadful Somerset at The Oval tonight.
That cover drive from Roy was a corking shot.
I detected a South African accent in his post-match interview. Am I right?
Yip - born in Reigate, Surrey, lived over there for a while whilst he was growing up but he's a proper Englishman.
Reigate, he's as English as they get! Can't wait to see him on Sunday, hopefully Lancefield will get another chance too, should have the nerves out of the way and Davies won't be available.
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