Surrey fall short again in narrow DLS loss to Gloucestershire

Surrey vs Gloucestershire – Vitality T20 Blast

Friday 9th August – Dan Simms at the Kia Oval

Gloucestershire 165-8   Surrey 94-2 (12) – Gloucestershire won by nine runs (DLS)

A miserable Vitality T20 Blast campaign continued on Friday night for Surrey as they succumbed to a nine run defeat in a rain-affected affair against Gloucestershire.

With storms swirling all around, it seemed a miracle that the Oval was bathed in sunshine for much of the evening. Gloucestershire managed a full 20 overs after electing to bat first and managed to pull together a solid, if not spectacular, 165-8.

In 2019, this may have looked like an under-par score but with a slow pitch and long boundaries making six-hitting hard – only five were struck all evening – it was actually a very competitive total. Miles Hammond offered some momentum in the powerplay before falling for a well-struck 30, Ian Cockbain’s 40 held the middle of the innings together and Jack Taylor hit some sweet strokes at the death. Surrey shared the wickets around their six bowlers but no-one offered enough control – Sam Curran’s 2-23 the pick of them all.

In response, Surrey found rotating the strike hard, with David Payne’s three powerplay overs going for just nine runs. Neither opener could get going, with Aaron Finch nicking off for 12 and Will Jacks getting a leading edge on 15. At this point, the rain came. Surrey, seven behind on DLS at this point, were effectively done.

When the players did re-emerge, Surrey were left needing an unlikely 52 from 25. Benny Howell and Ryan Higgins bowled with tremendous control and hit their Yorkers, and with that the game was won for Gloucestershire. By the time Sam Curran smashed AJ Tye for two sixes in the final over the game was gone. Nonetheless, 51 not out underlies that he has a bright future as a T20 number three.

A solid win for Gloucestershire that keeps them in the play-off spots, while Surrey remain rooted near the bottom and almost certain to miss Finals Day for a fifth consecutive year. For a county with such riches, that’s a real failing and questions must be asked how they look so unbalanced and insipid in white-ball cricket this year.