Mark Pettini smashed 66 at the top of the Essex innings to destroy any hopes of a Brown Caps victory as the Eagles raced to a seven wicket win with five overs to spare.

Pettini got his side off to a rapid start with some flourishing boundaries and never looked back as he and Ravi Bopara always made sure that Essex were well ahead of the rate.

Stand in captain, Mark Ramprakash won the toss and elected to make use of the good batting conditions, however Surrey got off to a terrible start when Scott Newman, James Benning and the skipper all fell in the first three overs with the score on just 10.

Usman Afzaal and Ali Brown started to rebuild the Brown Caps’ innings with the in-form left hander striking the ball to the boundary, including an enormous six off James Middlebrook but Surrey’s poor start always meant that the pair were under pressure.

The introduction of Danish Kaneria brought about another flurry of Surrey wickets and with that any hope of posting a competitive total. Afzaal was well caught by Bopara for 25 before Brown fell in the leg spinner’s following over for 35.

Jonathan Batty scored 21 to get Surrey past 100 but in a cataclysmic display Surrey lost four wickets for just five runs. Jimmy Ormond and Matthew Spriegel made sure that the Brown Caps batted the 20 overs to end on 126 for nine.

The Eagles took the momentum from their fielding into the start of their innings as Varun Chopra and Pettini smeared the ball to the boundary. Nicholson picked up the wicket of Chopra, caught behind, but this did not hinder the visitor’s progress.

Both Pettini and Bopara carried the momentum forward to take their side five short of 100. Ramprakash introduced Twenty20 Cup debutant Spriegel, who struck immediately to have Bopara caught in the deep. Pettini fell ten runs later to Ormond but Essex were always in the driving seat.

It took just two more overs for Grant Flower and Neil Dexter to knock off the runs and take their side to victory by seven wickets.

To see highlights of this match on Surrey TV, click here.

Friday’s match is sold out, however tickets for Surrey’s remaining matches are still available. To buy tickets for this match click on the links below:

Sun 15 June
Surrey Brown Caps v Sussex Sharks; 2.30pm start, Brit Oval - Buy tickets

Wed 18 June
Surrey Brown Caps v Hampshire Hawks; 5.30pm start, Brit Oval - Buy tickets

Fri 27 June
Surrey Brown Caps v Middlesex Crusaders; 5.30pm start, Brit Oval - Buy tickets

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