Middlesex beat Surrey in front of record T20 crowd
Surrey 196-6 (20 ov): Finch 78; Sowter 2-29, Fuller 2-41
Middlesex 200-5 (19.1 ov): Bailey 55, Simpson 43; Dernbach 3-33
Middlesex (2 pts) beat Surrey (0 pts) by five wickets
Middlesex boosted their chances of reaching the T20 Blast quarter-finals by beating rivals Surrey in front of a tournament-record crowd of 27,119 at Lord’s.
Nathan Sowter and James Fuller took two wickets apiece to restrict the visitors to 196-6, after Aaron Finch and James Roy’s opening stand of 87 from seven overs looked to have put them on course for an imposing total.
Paul Stirling (34) and Eoin Morgan (42) then set Middlesex on their way, but it was the stand of 67 between George Bailey (55) and John Simpson (43) that did the most damage.
Although both fell before the end, Ryan Higgins hit the winning runs to put Middlesex in contention for a top four spot in the South group.
That looked unlikely early on as Roy and Finch threatened a huge total – the England man had just reached 50 when he sent James Franklin’s first delivery to a diving Bailey at wide long-off.
Surrey were 111-2 at halfway, with Finch still picking off the bad ball, but their momentum was checked by a canny four-over spell of 2-29 from Sowter, as Middlesex took 4-85 in the last 10 overs.
The early onslaught, though, had played havoc with the Middlesex pace battery.
Tim Murtagh – playing his first county T20 game in three years – conceded 22 off two overs, while Harry Podmore went for 41 off 21 balls before he was ordered out of the attack by the umpires for too many short deliveries.
Fuller had also been carted around but he took two wickets in the final over – including that of Finch, who ended with 78 off 59 – to prevent the visitors reaching 200.
In response, Nick Gubbins fell cheaply to Jade Dernbach but Stirling and Morgan matched the rate set by Surrey’s openers.
Morgan dispatched Azhar Mahmood on to the roof of the three-tiered grandstand during their partnership of 64, although neither reached 50.
Bailey and Simpson then picked out gaps in the field with regularity, scoring 12 fours and a six between them, as the required rate tumbled.
Both were bowled late in the piece but they had done the hard work, leaving Higgins to seal it.
