Surrey beat Rivals

By Ben Horne
June 29 2005

Surrey beat rivals Middlesex by 22 runs on the D/L method after rain meant an early finish to the result at the Brit Oval. Rikki Clarke impressed with both bat and ball as he top scored in the Surrey innings with 546 and then took three wickets.

Surrey won the toss and decided to bat. However they did not start well as openers Brown and Benning fell early on. Batty and Newman then added 50 for the third wicket, with Batty making a useful score 0f 39 before falling leg before wicket to Peploe. Newman joined Clarke and together they added 43. However with the score on 120 Clarke fell for 46 from just 28 balls, as he was trapped leg before wicket to Darlymple. Newman and Mahmood, on his return from injury, both hit useful scores as Surrey reached 159 for 7, as they went into the last oval. Tim Murtagh, who was the hero with the ball from the last time these two sides played each other, hit a massive 21 from the final over from Mel Betts, this included three fours and a six. This left Surrey with a very respectable score of 180 for 7, with Murtagh making 24 not out from 5 balls.

Middlesex stared well and openers Shah and Smith put on 29 for the opening stand. Shah became the first man to fall as he was caught by Benning with Murtagh the bowler. With the score on 41 for 1, Rikki Clarke entered the attack on the seventh over and bowled what proved to be a match winning over. His first wicket of the over was Scott Styris for 2. On the fifth ball he took his second wicket as he removed danger man Ed Smith for 33. Next ball he bowled Joyce for a golden duck. This left Clarke with a triple wicket maiden. Middlesex managed to recover to 78 for 4, when a heavy downpour meant play had to be stopped early.