Blacked out

By Ben Horne
August 28 2005

Ian Blackwell hit 88 as Somerset beat Surrey by 5 wickets at the Brit Oval. Blackwell shared in a match winning stand of 120 with James Hildreth. Surrey’s score of 237 was not enough as the loin’s promotion hopes were ended.

Surrey won the toss and decided to bat. They made a good start as openers James Benning and John Batty put on 85 for the first wicket. Benning then shared in another useful stand of 50, with Butcher. Benning made 65 when he was stumped by Gazzard with Suppiah taking the wicket. Ramprakash and Brown also fell to Suppiah as the lions were reduced to 155 for 4. Mark Butcher made 46 and was dismissed with the score on 184 as he was bowled by Blackwell. Azhar Mahmood made a quick 19, while Stewart Walters scored a useful 31, as he was run out of the last ball. Surrey finished on 337 for 7 and they will be disappointed not to have a made a bigger score after a good start.

Azhar Mahmood gave Surrey the perfect start as he removed opener Matt Wood for 0 in the first over in the Somerset innings. Francis and Suppiah then added a useful stand of 55. Surrey then came back with two wickets to leave the sabres 84 for 3. However James Hildreth and skipper Ian Blackwell steered Somerset to victory with a stand of 120 for the fourth wicket. Hildreth scored 75 not out, while Blackwell smashed 88. He was finally dismissed by occasional off spinner Mark Ramprakash, while Doshi clamed the wicket of Keith Parsons with the score on 221. Somerset still won by 5 wickets with 5.1 overs to spare.