West Indies batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul made an unbeaten half-century to lead his Durham side to victory in their NatWest Pro40 match against Surrey at Woodbridge Road.

The left-hander, having had an impressive Test series recently against England, was in the same frame of mind today, giving the Surrey bowlers a hard time on what was an excellent batting pitch. He made 80, manoeuvring the Surrey bowlers into the gaps, and putting the bad ball away when it came along, in what was a clinical display of batting.

Kyle Coetzer, Durham’s right-handed number three was also on hand to make Surrey’s day a tough one. He breezed his way to 76 from just 84 balls including ten boundaries and together with Phil Mustard (63) and then Chanderpaul, made light of the Surrey total of 248-6, which turned out to be about 40 runs short of a competitive total. The visitors, coasting to the victory target in just 36 overs, for the loss of just three wickets.

It was no surprise to see Mark Butcher bat first after winning the toss but Surrey never really got going in the first 15 overs due to the early departures of James Benning (0), Stewart Walters (1) and Mark Butcher (15). Benning was out lbw playing across the line, Walters was caught off a leading edge and Butcher got a delivery from Graham Onions that kept very low to fall leg before.

However Ali Brown joined Scott Newman, who was playing beautifully, to add 99 for the fourth wicket, getting Surrey back in the box seat.

Both men showed what free scorers they are with some big hitting as well as some deft touches to propel the Surrey innings in an upward direction.

But just as the Surrey supporters were gearing themselves for a further onslaught, both men were out in consecutive deliveries off the bowling of Liam Plunkett, turning the tide back in Durham’s favour.

Newman, who got his chance to play today due to Mark Ramprakash missing out because of a minor back injury, showed what a dominate player he can be as he struck 11 boundaries and two sixes in his innings of 84 from just 85 balls. He was eventually out bowled by a quick yorker from Plunkett. Brown was out the ball before, attempting to hit Plunkett over extra cover and only succeeded in swiping it to Coetzer at deep cover point for an entertaining 59.

Jonathan Batty and Chris Schofield then had to rebuild the Surrey innings and they did it superbly. Batty made a quick-fire 40 from 42 balls, out caught off the last ball of the innings and his leg spinning partner also chipped in with a valuable and unbeaten 28 from 26 deliveries.

The Durham chase started badly as James Ormond caught the edge of Australian overseas player, Michael Di Venuto’s bat (1-2) but from then on, it was an excellent display of batting from the visitors. Opener, Phil Mustard and Coetzer seized upon anything loose and really made the home side pay inside the first 15 overs when the fielding restrictions were in place.

Mustard was eventually out, caught Batty bowled Harbhajan for 63, but Chanderpaul then took charge and the result was never in any doubt. The West Indian did not waste any time in an innings that consisted of six boundaries and three sixes, one of which was a flat batted sweep off Chris Schofield that nearly made its way onto Woodbridge Road itself.

Surrey Cricket Manager, Alan Butcher must have been pleased to see the successful return from injury of James Ormond who has had a long road back from injury and his form today suggested that he might be a candidate in the longer form of the game. His figures of 1-44 from eight overs were not a fair indication of the way he had bowled.

After nine days of cricket in just ten days, Surrey will now have a week off and will play Middlesex at Lord’s next Sunday.

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