Whilst Surrey’s Royal London One Day Cup competition got off to something of a rocky start when their first game was abandoned without a ball bowled, they have made their way down the road to Lord’s in quite the fashion.
The London based team have lost just one match so far this season when they faced Somerset at Taunton. The almost-spotless record should be more than enough to give Gareth Batty and his team the required confidence to get them through this final test of the competition. They are also able to report that they have already beaten their Final opposition, but that was when Gloucestershire were without their main-man Michael Klinger.
Positioned in second and third, Steven Davies and Kumar Sangakkara are sat immediately below the one man who has scored the most runs this season in the RLODC: Klinger. Coincidentally, this same man plays for Surrey’s opposition, Gloucestershire. While Klinger boasts 531 runs thus far, Davies and Sangakkara are not to be underestimated with their totals of496 and 429 respectively.
The counter to this however is of course that Surrey’s record this season of just the one defeat also comes with the most runs scored in the competition this season by any team – hint: this will be a high scoring game!
It might be wicket-keeper batsman and number three bat respectively Davies and Sangakkara who are placed second and third in the overall batting rankings for the competition but Jason Roy is bound to play a key role in this particular fixture.
As if their batting firepower wasn’t enough, Surrey’s bowling attack is now up and running again following some early season injuries. Captain Batty and Jade Dernbach are both in full flow and taking wickets although it is unfortunately injured Zafar Ansari who features highest in the rankings.
Surrey are able to boast a healthy and full squad for this competition as the whole England contingent find themselves available for selection and in-form. That is bar the most recent England recruit Ansari who will presumably find himself omitted from the squad after he suffered a dislocated thumb in the club’s County Championship match against Lancashire.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Surrey currently have a line-up that is showing few weaknesses – their bowling is almost up to full power with the only question being around the injured Ansari and their batting is boosted by the return of England man Jason Roy. It will be a surprise to all who attend Lord’s at the weekend if one of Surrey’s top order doesn’t fire: Steven Davies, Jason Roy or Kumar Sangakkara.
They should be wary of their weak point though; taking their foot off the gas. There has to be a certain amount of tenacity in sport and when one team has another on the back foot, they should do their upmost to keep them there! In both their quarter-final and semi-final meetings, Surrey ended up only narrowly avoiding defeat all because they permitted an underdog to get their nose in!
Key Player:
Steven Davies has had a hell of a season. It has often been said that there is only one man per team who features in every single delivery – the wicket-keeper. Not only does Davies fulfil this role for Surrey he is also an opening batsman and second in the batting rankings for the whole competition this season.
An average of 62.00, a strike-rate of 96.12 and a highest score of 115 and a total of 496 is enough to pose a threat to any opposition.
Previous Appearances:
1982 – Friends Provident Trophy (winners)
2011 – Clydesdale Bank 40 (winners)
1996, 2003 – NatWest Pro40 League (winners)
1974, 1997, 2001 – Benson & Hedges Cup (winners)
Tournament highlights:
- Final place secured following a tense last over and last ball that could have seen Nottinghamshire through instead
- Sangakkara smacks 166 from 138 against Nottinghamshire
- Number nine bat Matt Coles strikes 100 from 73 balls to see Kent with a chance of victory after being 169-9 chasing 251 (D/L)
- Surrey beat Northamptonshire by 220 runs
Likely XI: Jason Roy, Steven Davies, Ben Foakes, Kumar Sangakkara, Rory Burns, Gary Wilson, Tom Curran, Aneesh Kapil, Sam Curran, Gareth Batty, Jade Dernbach
Odds (SkyBet): 4/7
Stats:
Top run scorer: Steven Davies – 496
Top wicket taker: Gareth Batty – 10
