Prince and Katich end YB40 hopes

Half centuries from Ashwell Prince and Simon Katich have guided Lancashire to victory over Surrey this afternoon at Guildford.

Prince struck 76 and Katich an unbeaten 57 as Lancashire recorded a 5 wicket win to end our hopes of qualifying out of group B.

Lancashire won the toss and elected to field first and the team news was that Tom Jewell and Gary Keedy missed out. That meant the returning Zafar Ansari was the lone spinner in the side.

Steve Davies and Jason Roy got the innings off to a flyer, especially the former England 'keeper who was at his fluent best. He took a particular liking to Kabir Ali early on and Glenn Chapple, hitting both of them for majestic maximums. He reached is half century of just 26 balls, but shortly after perished to an outstanding catch on the boundary by Stephen Moore with the score on 101.

Roy was less aggressive but still looked good, but also straight after getting to 50 he looked to advance Jordan Clark but could only edge behind. Ricky Ponting joined Solanki, and there was a moment of controversy early in his innings. He pulled Clark towards the boundary, Ashwell Prince took the catch but fell over the rope as he tried to evade some eager young fans who were too close.

A disgruntled Chapple didn't had to wait long or Ponting's wicket though, as he hesitated when he set off for a single and was run out by a direct hit for 17. Solanki and Wilson milked it around for a few overs but a superb catch from Katich saw off the skipper, and when Wilson went LBW, we had fallen to 190-5.

We needed a partnership, but instead Azhar looked for a six down the ground and was caught at long on, and when Ansari was caught behind without scoring, we were struggling at 198-7 in the 32nd. We were in serious danger of getting a score well below par, and when Jon Lewis went for 14, it looked bleak.

However, Zander de Bruyn and Chris Tremlett put on a vital stand of 45 for the 9th wicket. It wasn't explosive but was just what was required, and with 18 coming off the last over thanks to a six from both batsmen, we had reached a competitive, but under par, 264-8, with de Bruyn's unbeaten 34 being a timely return to some sort of form.

Lancashire's openers of Stephen Moore and Prince got their side off to a great start, taking a liking in particular to Azhar, who bowled two no balls in his first spell. They were ticking along at the required rate, but Jon Lewis got the much needed wicket when Moore top edged to Wilson at mid-off with the score on 85. That wicket brought about a bit of pressure, as the required rate headed over 7, but Prince was still looking at ease at the crease. He and Croft looked to take the game away from us, but Croft wasn't as comfortable as Prince and fell when he edged Dernbach behind for a much deserve wicket.

Lancs were still on top, but when Azhar had Prince caught at mid-on for 75 and then bowled Karl Brown next ball, we were right back in the game. The rate was creeping above 8 an over, despite big hitter Clark going well at the crease, but when de Bruyn trapped him LBW, the Surrey fielders felt confident with 76 needed off 9.

However, as he did against Essex last Monday, Solanki had left too many overs for de Bruyn to bowl at the end of the innings. He was reluctant to use Ansari who had suffered some tap off one of his two overs, so de Bruyn had to bowl in the last 10, and it didn't go well. With 58 required off the last 7 overs, de Bruyn conceded 5 consecutive boundaries in the 34th over, which allowed Katich and Cross to comfortably knock off the runs.

So that was a tight game at some points, but I personally didn’t think that we were on top at any point apart from when we were 100-0 in our innings. Either Roy or Davies had to go on and get a hundred because I think that 290 was a minimum on that pitch, with the outfield seemingly much quicker than in previous years at Woodbridge Road. However, that wasn’t to be, and Lancashire bowled and especially fielded superbly throughout, and restricted us well.

As I say, I never thought that we were on top at any point in the Lancashire innings, even when the rate was above 8, because that is pretty comfortable at Guildford. When Clark went, we needed another quick wicket, preferably Katich, but that wasn’t to be and when de Bruyn was left to bowl late on, the game was up. I’m not sure why Ansari only bowled 2 overs and ultimately it was the wrong call by Solanki, and those decisions in my opinion led to the defeat.

So we are just about out now of this competition, so focus needs to go back onto the Championship with a visit to Arundel to play Sussex next week.