Death bowling masterclass powers Surrey to Finals Day
Skipper Chris Jordan and Sam Curran put on a clinic in death bowling as Surrey edged out Lancashire by 13 runs at Old Trafford, Manchester in the second quarter-final on Friday (July 7). The Lancs were favourites to pull off the chase with 54 needed off 30 balls and seven wickets left in the shed. However, Jordan and Curran combined to concede just 35 off the next 24 deliveries with a lethal mix of searing yorkers and slower balls to stifle the hosts. The equation came down to 19 off the final over and Sean Abbott executed well to give Surrey a comfortable win.
Earlier in the day, fifties from Laurie Evans and Jason Roy guided Surrey to a competitive total although the visitors did lose a bit of steam in the slog overs. Tom Bailey and Daryl Mitchell did well at the death to ensure that Surrey didn't breach the 200-run mark - a landmark that had looked a formality at one stage. That momentum was carried forward into the start of the chase as the Lancs were driven forward by Jos Buttler and Steven Croft but once their partnership was broken, Surrey were able to sneak back into the game and strangled their way past Lancashire.
Brief scores: Surrey 187/5 in 20 overs (Laurie Evans 70, Jason Roy 50; Tom Bailey 2-37) beat Lancashire 174/6 in 20 overs (Steven Croft 55, Jos Buttler 42; Chris Jordan 2-28) by 13 runs
At Taunton, an unbroken 96-run stand of utmost composure between skipper Lewis Gregory and Ben Green saw Somerset nail a five-wicket win against Nottinghamshire. Chasing a below-par target of 158 on an unusually two-paced Taunton surface, the hosts found themselves in a bit of a hole at 62/5 in the 10th over before Gregory and Green joined hands. The duo quickly got into their work with calculated aggression, particularly from Gregory who smoked five sixes. They took the chase deep and eventually, the Notts buckled under pressure to concede defeat.
The win was initially set up by another disciplined Somerset bowling performance as the Notts were never let off the hook. The famed opening pair of Alex Hales and Joe Clarke barely troubled the scorers while Colin Munro also fell cheaply to leave Notts tottering in the PowerPlay. Matthew Montgomery and Samit Patel did a decent repair job but both fell just when the visitors seemed set to hit the accelerator. It took a breezy cameo from Imad Wasim to push the score closer to the 160-run mark but it always seemed about 10-15 runs short of a par score. Imad also starred in Notts' bowling fightback along with Calvin Harrison but in the end, Gregory and Green were too good temperamentally.
Brief scores:Nottinghamshire 157/6 in 20 overs (Matthew Montgomery 51, Imad Wasim 31*; Craig Overton 2-23) lost to Somerset 158/5 in 19.3 overs (Lewis Gregory 57*, Ben Green 35*; Calvin Harrison 2-26, Imad Wasim 2-33) by five wickets
Defending champions Hampshire strolled to a five-wicket win against Worcestershire at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. Put into bat, the visitors produced an embarrassing display of batting and found themselves at 29/6 at one stage with the Hampshire pacers led by Nathan Ellis slicing through the top and middle order. There was a hint of help for the quick bowlers but Worcestershire's batters were also loose in their approach. If not for a 70-run stand between Ed Pollock and Usama Mir, the tourists would have been left with egg on their faces.
With a paltry total of 101 to chase, Hampshire lost wickets at regular intervals in a bid to up the ante but eventually got home with 27 balls to spare. Worcestershire's spin twins Mir and Mitchell Santner were at their tidy best but they had very few runs to play with. There wasn't any standout batting performer for Hampshire and given the kind of score they were chasing, they didn't need to either. Worcestershire needed a miracle to make a game of this and that never came.
Brief scores:Worcestershire 100 in 17.5 overs (Usama Mir 34; Nathan Ellis 4-6, John Turner 2-19) lost to Hampshire 102/5 in 15.3 overs (Tom Prest 25, Joe Weatherley 25; Usama Mir 2-20) by five wickets
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