Sharks win through in fascinating five over encounter

Published 5 July 2007

Sussex leapfrogged Surrey in the South Division of the Twenty20 Cup to qualify into the quarter finals after winning through in the rain-reduced five over match at the Brit Oval.

With the rain coming down at the time the game was due to start, the umpires had no choice but to keep the covers on. After an hour and a half, the rain finally subsided allowing a five overs per side match.

Surrey won the toss and elected to bowl first. They got off to a great start as Matthew Nicholson bowled Luke Wright without scoring. However the Sharks began to strike the ball nicely, particularly Chris Adams and Chris Nash. Adams hit 19 from just eight balls and Nash 24 from nine as the visitors raced their way up to 65 from their allotted overs.

In reply, the Brown Caps got off to a rapid start through James Benning and Ali Brown, however the latter was run out for 11 as the pair pushed for quick runs. His replacement, Azhar Mahmood, got Surrey up and running again until Benning picked out Rana Naved in the field to be caught for seven. And in the same Mushtaq Ahmed struck again to bowl Rikki Clarke for just one.

In trouble, at 34 for three, some remarkable batting saw Mark Ramprakash and Mahmood strike a number of sixes to give the home team some hope of chasing down the score.

With 17 required from the last over, Surrey needed a good start but lost Mahmood caught at third-man for 22. The game turned the following ball when Ramprakash hooked James Kirtley for six taking the required runs down to 11. However two wickets in two balls sealed Surrey’s fate as they eventually lost out in the fascinating encounter by five runs.

Surrey can still qualify for the quarter finals but will need to win tomorrow.

If you want to come down shout the Brown Caps on, you can do so by purchasing your ticket online.