Sunday 20 May 2012

Bowlers fire to make it 3 from 3



Surrey have kept up their 100% record in the defence of the CB40, beating the Durham Dynamos by 60 runs.

Rory Hamilton-Brown won the toss and elected to bat first. As expected, Wilson was left out, as well as Rudolph, as de Bruyn was favoured to his South African teammate. However, after getting off to a quick start, Surrey lost 3 early wickets. The first to go was Davies, who was caught behind for 14. The skipper quickly followed him back in Claydon’s third over, when he was bowled looking to drive back down the ground.

After striking 2 consecutive boundaries, Roy was caught behind on 15 to give the Australian his 3rd wicket of the innings. Once again a start from Roy, as he has done a lot this season, but failing to make a sizeable contribution. Maynard and de Bruyn had to rebuild the innings, as Surrey had fallen to 47-3 in the 8th.

Maynard looked aggressive as always, but de Bruyn struggled to tick the score along. He was the next man out, when Gareth Breese got one to spin in-between bat and pad, and was bowled for 22. Spriegel came and went, as England spinner Scott Borthwick got one turn in and peg back his leg stump. Surrey 106-5 in the 22nd.

Ansari and Maynard had to put on a partnership to get Surrey anywhere near a respectable total. Due to his Uni commitments, Zafar hadn’t played too much cricket before today, so looking rusty at the start of his innings was to be expected. The pair slowly began to up the rate, as Maynard went to his first fifty of the CB40 this season.  The partnership had also gone past the 50 mark, as Ansari launched Claydon for 6 when the Australian returned. However, on 77, Maynard drove at Graham Onions and was caught at extra cover. The partnership was worth 85, and had given Surrey a chance.

Ansari went to his maiden List A fifty at a run a ball, and on this performance, it is a shame he cannot play more than the odd game. Surrey finished on 221-7 off their 40, with Batty run out of the last ball.

Stoneman got Durham off to a good start in their innings, but Dernbach made the early breakthrough, removing Mustard caught at mid off. Ben Stokes came to the crease, and showed why England like him so much, launching Meaker for 6 over deep backward square. However, he was removed by Spriegel, when he came down and missed and Davies did the rest.

Stoneman was looking dangerous, until Spriegel was at it again, when he removed the opener caught behind. The Durham skipper Collingwood and Gordon Muchall then put on a good partnership, and even though the required rate was increasing, there were still 7 wickets in the hatch. However, Batty got the big wicket of Collingwood when the former England man missed a sweep and was bowled.

The current skipper was followed by the former skipper, Will Smith, but he didn’t last long as he chopped on to give Dernbach his second wicket of the game. Gareth Breese then injured himself and had to retire hurt. It looked quite a bad injury as a stretcher was required to take him off. Borthwick came and went, as he was run out coming back for a second by Jason Roy, and Stuart Meaker then had his first when he bowled Onions with a full toss. One wicket was required and Meaker finished the game off the very next ball, bowling Claydon for pace. Durham 161 all out.

So, our 100% record has been kept intact, and even though our batsman didn’t fire today, the bowlers were superb. Victory against the supposed toughest opposition in the group, and in the end a comfortable one, by 60 runs. The likes of Maynard, Ansari and Spriegel the stand out performers, and Gareth Batty kept up his good form in the CB40, with the big wicket of Collingwood.

We now turn our attention back to the Championship, where we welcome Division One leaders Warwickshire to the Kia Oval on Wednesday. 

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