Ward secures shock win

By Jeremy Horne
July 22 2002

Ian ward scored a career best 168no to lead Surrey to an astonishing 2 wicket victory over Kent, with Surrey scoring their highest ever fourth innings total to win a match. At one stage, Surrey looked to be following on, and eventhough it was avoided they then slipped to 209-7 in their 2nd innings.

Kent had set Surrey an imposing 410 to win after some good tail end batting that saw them recover from 145-6 to 260 all out, with Min Patel scoring an unbeaten 43.

Surrey then lost Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash early, but a stand of 123 between Ward and the ever-improving youngster Rikki Clarke brought Surrey back into contention. When Clarke was caught off Andrew Symonds for 66 it sparked a mini collapse with 5 wickets falling for 31. Ward then joined together with Saqlain Mushtaq and they ensured that Kent would have to wait until the final day to claim what would seem to be a simple victory. The pair then continued where they left off on the beginning of the final day as their stand reached 105 before Amjad Khan dismissed Saqlain for 66. However, another large lower order stand, this time an unbroken 97 between Ward and Ormond saw Surrey to an incredible win.

Last week, losing to Warwickshire in a game they controlled for the first three and a half days had stunned Surrey. This time the roles were reversed as Surrey were the ones who came from behind to win. Ward’s 168* eclipsed his previous best of 158* scored on the same ground two years ago.

Summary of scores:

Kent 1st innings: 374 (Symonds 118, Fulton 62, Key 57, Saqlain Mushtaq 5-122, Salisbury 4-59)

Surrey 1st innings: 225 (Hollioake 122*, Saggers 5-66, Khan 4-91)

Kent second innings: 260 (Key 68, Symonds 51, Saqlain Mushtaq 4-60)

Surrey 2nd innings: 410-8 (Ward 168*, Clarke 66, Saqlain Mushtaq 60, Ormond 43*)