Panthers beaten in final ball Lord’s drama

By

Middlesex 137-8 (20 ov) lost to Surrey 138-8 (20 ov) by two wickets
(Middlesex 0 pts, Surrey 2 pts)

Middlesex Panthers suffered further T20 heartache as Surrey snatched a tense victory off the final ball in front of a packed Lord’s.

Panthers skipper Eoin Morgan top scored with 43, but his side fell away in the final five overs to post just 137-8.

Kevin Pietersen, Rory Burns and Azhar Mahmood all made 28 but Middlesex held up the Surrey chase with regular wickets, including three late on to give them a shot at victory.

Surrey needed five off the last over and Dan Christian kept things tight enough to take it to the final delivery, with Zafar Ansari scrambling home.

It was a fitting finish to a match which saw several momentum shifts and delighted the full house at the home of cricket.

Panthers began well after winning the toss, reaching 64-1 after the first seven overs, with Morgan quickly into his stride.

After watching Dawid Malan (25) depart, the England international was more circumspect but received good support from Ryan Higgins, who made a run-a-ball 21.

After guiding Panthers to 108-2 after 14 overs, both Morgan and Higgins fell in the same Stuart Meaker over and the hosts’ innings hit the buffers, with regular wickets comprimising the scoring rate.

However, Steven Finn got the defence of their 137 total off to the perfect start when he had flamboyant Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan caught behind for a duck off the fifth ball.

Pietersen and Jason Roy went after the Middlesex bowling, but just as they had put themselves and their team in a good position, they fell in successive overs, to Ravi Patel and Ollie Rayner.

Surrey reached halfway on 68-4 as Patel and Rayner continued to keep the visitors subdued, but when their spells were up, Burns and Mahmood stepped on the gas and completed a 50 partnership off 41 balls.

Harry Podmore had both caught behind while Finn and Christian struck inside the last nine deliveries to leave Surrey teetering, but Ansari kept his cool and got them over the line.

Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook