Dominic Sibley and Sam Curran shared a stand of 95 in 63 balls as Surrey romped to Vitality Blast final’s day with a five-wicket win over Durham at the Kia Oval. Former England opener Dominic Sibley plundered 67 in 48 balls (two sixes and six fours) while Sam Curran, who made a hundred earlier in the competition, hit 52 in 34 balls, including four sixes as the hosts chased down a target of 163 with 12 balls to spare.
Dominic Sibley and Sam Curran were the chief architects of the win guiding Surrey comfortably through the chase throughout the innings. With international matches being played alongside this busy time for all three formats of county cricket, it is very hard to pick the Surrey side for their next match as Sam Curran would likely be called for National duty against Australia.
Pitch and Toss
The pitch at Kennington Oval in T20s has favored the batters with the average scores being on the higher side. Fast bowlers get some assistance in the initial stages of the match and as the game progresses it gets better for batting. Interestingly teams chasing have won the majority of the matches at this venue across all formats. Teams winning the toss will opt to bowl first at this venue and then chase down totals.
Surrey have won the toss and Chris Jordan has decided to have a bowl. he weather in London will witness cloudy skies. The temperature will peak at 22 degrees Celsius. Durham had to bat first in the quarter finals
Daniel Worrall, Sam Curran and other bowlers restricts Durham to 162
The fact they needed so many was credit to the visitors who fought back from 69 for 6 thanks to 37 from Michael Jones, 24 in 15 from Bas De Leede and a gem of a cameo from Ben Raine (23 from 8) to post 162 for 8. Dan Worrall (2 for 14) and Reece Topley (2 for 20) wreaked havoc in the powerplay for Surrey.
Thanks to Worrall and Topley, Surrey dominated early on. Durham’s leading scorer in the competition, Graham Clark, spooned the fifth ball from Worrall to Jordan at extra cover and Ollie Robinson chewed up 11 balls swinging and missing before being bowled by Topley.
Worrall cleaned up Alex Lees with a brute of a yorker and although Brydon Carse struck his first ball over the ropes, he left soon afterwards edging Topley to wicketkeeper Burns.
Colin Ackerman was run out by a brilliant direct hit from Sam Curran and when Ashton Turner’s brief counterattack (26 from 21) was ended by Sibley’s catch at deep square Durham were 69 for 6 in the 13th over.
Scottish international Jones hit back, clubbing Jordan over extra for six. De Leede, who survived a bungled run-out attempt by Burns, followed suit as the pair raised a 50-stand in 30 balls before Sam Curran bowled De Leede off his pads. Jones though kept swinging and Raine (23 from 8), twice cleared the ropes in the final over bowled by Jordan to take the visitors to 162.
Dominic Sibley the opener and all rounder Sam Curran carts up dominant win for Surrey
Dominic Sibley and Sam Curran shared a stand of 95 in 63 balls as Surrey romped to Vitality Blast final’s day with a five-wicket win over Durham at the Kia Oval. Former England opener Dominic Sibley plundered 67 in 48 balls (two sixes and six fours) while Sam Curran, who made a hundred earlier in the competition, hit 52 in 34 balls, including four sixes as the hosts chased down a target of 163 with 12 balls to spare.
Buoyed by taking 92 from the last seven, Durham began well in the field, Carse striking twice in five balls to remove first the dangerous Will Jacks and then Laurie Evans caught at slip. Two men who not so long ago were opening for England, Rory Burns and Sibley were trusted with steadying the ship and the latter defied his reputation as something of a plodder with four boundaries in the powerplay.
The introduction of spin for the first time on the night in the shape of Callum Parkinson was the undoing of Burns, who hoisted him to safe hands in the deep. Sam Curran joined Sibley as the run-rate rose, 30 balls ticking by without a boundary before the former broke the shackles with a huge six off Nathan Sowter. Parkinson was similarly dispatched.
Bas De Leede spurned the chance to take the England all-rounder’s scalp when he dropped a tough caught and bowled with Curran on 31 and with that the hosts assumed complete command. Dominic Sibley went to 50 with a glorious six over mid-on before Sam Curran struck a delivery from Sowter almost clean out of The Oval. Only 15 were needed when Dominic Sibley fell and though Sam Curran too left before the end, Surrey got home comfortably.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Chris Jordan the winning skipper said : One of the things we asked the boys coming into a big game with a home crowd and big expectations was to find that right balance between intensity and keeping nice and calm when needs be and you saw that with the batting especially. The pitch here at the Oval has played very similar throughout the whole year and luckily we had two quality bowlers at the top to exploit the conditions.
Around the 10 over mark even if the ball is doing a little bit earlier it then stops a little bit and the seam gets a bit softer and it gets easier to bat. We weren’t happy the way we finished in the field but at the beginning if you’d given us 160 to chase, knowing how much better the wicket gets at the end, we’d probably have taken it. Sibley played really well and Sam backed him up and we got over the line.
Alex Lees the losing skipper said : We knew the toss was going to be a big one and credit to their new ball bowlers who were probably the difference in the game. I thought we played exceptionally in those last 10 overs to give us a score to bowl at but ultimately I think we knew we were a little bit short.
There is depth in our batting with Ben Raine coming in at nine, so we had a level of calmness, but the damage was done in that first six. Dan Worrall is great with a red ball or a white one. It was like opening up in a Championship game out there. When you lose those wickets in such a short format game it is difficult to wrestle back momentum. Credit to the guys for that never say die attitude they’ve shown throughout the comp but it wasn’t to be.
Dominic Sibley was Player of the Match for his 67 runs
Jamie Overton is content to give the fans more value for money here, although some of those fans forget they are behind the bowler’s arm in the batter’s eyeline so we have a fair delay before we finally get there. Overton then hits through backward point for four to seal it. Twelve balls to spare, Surrey seal their spot at Edgbaston later this month.
Chris Jordan does not need to bat, in truth Surrey had plenty more in the shed as well as the twelve balls they did not need use. Who might come out of the England squad for Finals Day. Do Surrey change a winning team or may they use a Jamie Smith, Ollie Pope or Gus Atkinson on Saturday, 14 September.
There is a huge Championship match for the Champions at Taunton that same week beforehand too do not forget though, still plenty more cricket this season, do stay tuned to the BBC for Championship, T20 Blast, One-Day Cup and international cricket live texts over the coming three weeks.
With international matches being played alongside this busy time for all three formats of county cricket, it is very hard to pick the Surrey side for their next match.