Vitality Blast: Pope and Curran snatch it for Surrey despite Hogan heroics

Michael Hogan has become Glamorgan's top T20 wicket taker with 102 victims

England youngsters Ollie Pope and Sam Curran did just enough to see Surrey home by four wickets off the penultimate ball, as they chased down 174 to beat Glamorgan.

Michael Hogan (5-18) almost caused a dramatic upset with a superb 19th over as he became Glamorgan's top T20 wicket-taker.

Pope hit 62 off 46 balls while Curran slammed 36 off 22.

Sam Northeast again top scored for Glamorgan with 65.

Glamorgan got away to a slowish start losing David Lloyd for three and Marnus Labuschagne for 20 as they slipped to 47 for two in the seventh over, offering the first in a series of boundary catches.

Kiran Carlson was brilliantly caught at short fine leg for nine by the leaping Reece Topley off the bowling of West Indies spinner Sunil Narine, who bowled brilliantly on debut taking one for 17 in four overs.

Curran was the pick of the seamers with one for 25, but Northeast showed the same intelligence to anchor the innings as the previous night at Sussex, with a composed knock off 51 balls.

At the other end Chris Cooke provided the muscle at a strike-rate of 170 to help Glamorgan double their score in the last seven overs and reach a highly competitive total.

Surrey's hard-hitting opening pair Jason Roy and Will Jacks both skied early catches off Hogan, who was five days away from his 41st birthday, but Laurie Evans gave the innings momentum with a quickfire 23.

Pope and Curran cashed in with a decisive partnership of 62, with Curran laying into the spin of Prem Sisodiya, who could not hold a skied return chance after being struck for 16 in three balls.

Curran eventually provided Hogan with his 100th T20 wicket for Glamorgan in his final pro season, moving level with Dean Cosker, as Northeast held on to a high catch.

With Jordan Clark starting strongly and Pope hitting hard, Surrey looked to be strolling home before Hogan induced panic in home ranks conceding just a single in the 19th over and forcing both batsmen to hole out in the deep as he claimed the county record.

But Jamie Overton and Chris Jordan were not panicked as they scored the required eight off the last over with a ball to spare.

Surrey next host Gloucestershire on Tuesday 31 May while Glamorgan complete their road trip around south-east England against Middlesex at Radlett on Sunday.

Surrey batter Ollie Pope told BBC Radio London:

"We're really happy, we probably should have finished it an over earlier but Hogan bowled really nicely and got a bit of extra bounce.

"I was disappointed to get out but the boys are buzzing with a pretty good performance for first up.

"My role in this T20 is to play almost an anchor role but score as quickly as I can while taking lower-risk options to be there at the end, I'm happy with how it went.

"The boys are in a really good place and there's a good mood in the changing room so (while on England duty) I'll be excited to watch how they go against Middlesex."

Glamorgan bowler Michael Hogan told BBC Sport Wales:

"We were always a little bit behind the game after we started slowly (with the bat), we bowled quite well early on but if we're honest we weren't as slick in the field as we normally are.

"It was a good fight by the lads, disappointing result and we weren't quite just 'on it.'"

On eight wickets in two nights after two years out of the T20 team:

"It is what it is, different plans at different times, and in the shorter formats I've tended to get injured a bit, but it's nice to be back and trying to execute my skills. My two five-fors have both been on the losing side, it would be nice to get one in a win.

"I've got to leave everything out there, when I announced it would be my final season, my commitment is still with the club until the last ball l bowl. I want to play as many games as I can and take as many wickets as I can for the club."