Cook and Kaneria end Surrey unbeaten run
Published 3 June 2007
An Alastair Cook century and a superb four wicket haul from Danish Kaneria has ended Surrey’s unbeaten run in the Friends Provident competition.
In front of a record crowd of 4,687 at Whitgift School, the England opening batsman was the mainstay of the Essex innings, helping them to 248 and with the help of some crucial wickets from his Pakistan team mate, Kaneria, it was enough to secure their fourth win in the competition.
However the Eagles did not have it all their own way. After skipper Ronnie Irani won the toss and elected to bat, the Surrey Brown Caps got off to exactly the start they wanted. Making the most of a pitch offering the quicker bowlers some extra pace and bounce when the ball was new, Azhar Mahmood in particular, troubled the Essex batsmen and managed to get rid of Irani and Mark Pettini early on to have the visitors stumbling on 21 for two.
As the ball lost some of its shine, conditions became easier for the batsmen and Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook, looking to consolidate, played well, putting away anything loose, in a stand of 112. Bopara, eventually falling for 46, brilliantly caught and bowled by Chris Schofield.
James Foster did not last long, playing all round one from Nayan Doshi but Cook continued to blaze away at the other end and with Ryan ten Doeschate (36 from 28 balls) striking the ball nicely, Essex picked up the scoring rate and looked like they were headed for a score of around the 300 mark.
However, Jade Dernbach, who was selected in today’s team for his ability to take wickets, took two at a crucial time, dismissing ten Doeschate and James Middlebrook in the space of one over. Both were caught behind by Jonathan Batty and Surrey had made the pendulum swing back in their favour. It was an excellent come back from the young Surrey quick who had gone for 32 in his first four overs.
Mahmood then rammed home the advantage despite Cook (125) racking up a well deserved hundred from just 113 balls, by taking two more wickets at the end to finish with the impressive figures of 4-39 from 8.3 overs. The Eagles, disappointingly bowled out for what appeared to be a sub par total of 248.
But the Surrey reply started out just as the Essex one did- Two early wickets, that of Ali Brown, caught in the slips for two and James Benning, who got a cracker from Andre Nel, caught by Foster for 10. Nel, in particular, a handful for the Surrey line up, with his extra pace and bounce that was nearing the 90 mile an hour mark.
The cool heads of Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash took the game away from the Eagles by adding 137 for the third wicket but just as it appeared that Surrey were marching towards an emphatic victory, things took a turn for the worst. Surrey first lost captain Butcher, caught pulling a ball in the deep for a well made 50, Ramprakash was caught and bowled by Kaneria for 77 and then Mahmood was trapped lbw for one, all in the space of just four runs.
From a position of comfort, Surrey were now in a battle, and battle they did for the ensuing overs through Jonathan Batty and Stewart Walters who struggled against some tight line and length bowling from the visitors. Walters (13), who looked to up the tempo when the asking rate was climbing, fell in the deep when he was caught at deep mid-wicket and when Schofield fell soon after for just six, Essex were in the box seat.
But Batty and Nicholson then came together and turned the tides, hitting some lusty blows, which included an Andre Nel over that went for 14, to get Surrey back into a winning position, needing just under a run a ball with three wickets in hand.
But in a match that had had several twist and turns in it already, you felt another was just around the corner, and Kaneria, through a beautifully flighted delivery, deceived Batty who was looking to go over the top, only to be caught at point by Nel for 38.
From that point on Surrey never recovered and Nel’s last over, which only went for two runs, all but ended the home side’s hopes of victory. Needing ten off the final over, Kaneria showed his class by first dismissing Nicholson for 18 and then Nayan Doshi, to complete the magnificent fight back by eight runs.
Mark Butcher’s men now have it all to play for and to be sure of qualification through to the semi-finals, they’ll need to win both of their remaining matches against Somerset and Hampshire. Their next match in the competition is in a week’s time against Somerset at the Recreation ground in Bath.
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