T20 Blast: Surrey brush aside Middlesex in opening South Group game
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Surrey all-rounder Sam Curran only returned from his stint with Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League on Sunday
Vitality Blast, Lord's |
Surrey 199-6 (20 overs): S Curran 68, T Curran 50; Helm 3-38 |
Middlesex 126 (15.1 overs): Holden 43; Jacks 3-17, Atkinson 3-20 |
Surrey won by 73 runs |
Surrey brushed aside London rivals Middlesex in their T20 Blast South Group opener at Lord's despite missing opener Jason Roy through injury.
Sam Curran (68) and brother Tom put on 118 for the third wicket as the visitors posted 199-6, with three late Tom Helm wickets restricting the score.
Middlesex initially kept up with the required rate, but lost wickets regularly and then slipped to 98-6.
Spinner Will Jacks picked up 3-17 as Surrey won by 73 runs inside 16 overs.
Sam Curran, returning from the Indian Premier League to captain Surrey, won the toss and decided to bat as they looked for a seventh straight T20 Blast win against Middlesex.
They were forced into a last-minute change as hours after the news was confirmed that Roy would end his England contract to play in July's inaugural season of Major League Cricket in the United States, the 32-year-old batter injured his calf in the warm-up.
Surrey started well before West Indies all-rounder Sunil Narine, promoted to open, fell to the second ball from debutant spinner Nathan Fernandes. But it was Jacks who did the early damage, with his 22-ball innings of 43 helping the visitors to 68-2 in the eighth over.
His dismissal brought the Curran brothers together in the middle, and both registered half-centuries as they piled on the runs in the middle overs.
Tom Curran, playing solely as a batter, departed soon after reaching 50, skying a delivery from Ryan Higgins in the 19th over.
Surrey looked to be heading for a total beyond 200, especially when Middlesex were forced to move an extra fielder inside the circle for the final over for a slow over-rate.
However, Helm took three wickets - including Sam Curran - to halt their charge and keep the hosts' target to 200.
Middlesex have only emerged from the group stage twice since they won the tournament in 2008 and lost captain Stephen Eskinazi to a run out in the first over of their reply.
Gus Atkinson missed the chance to catch the batter but recovered brilliantly to play his part in sending Eskinazi back to the pavilion as he and Jamie Overton combined to run the opener out.
Pieter Malan gave Middlesex hope but was out for 30 driving straight to Overton at mid-wicket, and the spin of Jacks and Narine then secured three wickets in the space of five balls as Middlesex went from 93-3 to 98-6.
The last of those was Max Holden, clean bowled for 43 attempting to sweep Narine, and his departure accelerated an inevitable defeat.
Surrey, with a deep squad and threats with bat and ball, look well placed to at least match their quarter-final appearance last season and potentially add to the inaugural T20 Cup they lifted in 2003.
Both sides are back in action on Friday, with Surrey hosting Kent Spitfires (18:30 BST) and Middlesex travelling to Hampshire Hawks (19:00 BST).