Brown Caps pipped by Eagles' England boys

29 May 2009

Essex Eagles’ England stars were just too much for the Surrey Brown Caps on Friday night, despite a fine innings from Scott Newman.

Man of the Match Ravi Bopara took 1/31 from his four overs and then top scored with 53 off 41 balls and his international colleagues Alastair Cook and Graham Napier also impressed with 39 off 27 balls and 1/29 respectively.

Although Newman carried his bat throughout the innings, scoring 81 off 60 balls, he lacked a major supporting knock and the Brown Caps managed only 165/5 when a bigger total was being eyed half way through the innings.

Essex started well and a 65 run partnership between Cook and Bopara did the majority of the damage. When Cook was dismissed by a fantastic run out from Chris Schofield, the veteran Matt Walker partnered Bopara home and despite late wickets from Matthew Spriegel, Jade Dernbach was just unable to defend three runs off the last over, Essex winning with just one ball to spare.

Surrey won the toss and batted first, Newman and Afzaal getting off to a fine start and taking 23 off the first two overs, with Newman scoring particularly freely early on. Afzaal then started to play his shots but was caught by Ryan ten Doeschate trying to hit over cover and perished for 23.

Ramprakash joined Newman and started well, hitting his first boundary after a glaring misfiled from Essex captain Mark Pettini. He then hit Grant Flower for a gigantic straight six and, with Newman carrying on well at the other end, Surrey were well set at 84/1 after ten overs.

However, the return of David Masters into the attack saw both Ramprakash and Stewart Walters go in the eleventh over and when Grant Elliott followed without scoring in the next, the Brown Caps were suddenly 94/4.

Newman was joined by fellow Banstead man Matthew Spriegel and the two played some more fine shots, Spriegel in particular looking in excellent touch as he timed the ball to boundaries around the ground.

Surrey had moved onto 151/5 but Spriegel perished for 23 trying to flick Graham Napier away and seeing the ball catch the splice of his bat.

The Eagles bowled two very good last overs, David Wright going for six off the nineteenth and Napier seven off the twentieth, the bowlers giving Newman and Benning no width at all to get the ball away.

In response, Mark Pettini started like a train for Essex, smashing the ball hard and high from the off and got lucky on two occasions before picking out Newman at mid off who held a high catch.

Bopara and Cook then played excellently together, timing the ball well and using their long built intuition to run cleverly between the stumps.

When Cook was brilliantly run out by Schofield, Essex could have failed to build on the start, but the experience of Matt Walker was just what they needed as he joined Bopara.

The England man received a big let off after being shelled by Chris Schofield in the deep and made the most of it, bringing up his fifty in the following over by smashing consecutive sixes off Andre Nel, one off a free hit.

With 38 required off 30, Surrey needed to take wickets and after Spriegel took Bopara off the first ball of his over, there was a chance. The chance was increased when James Foster was caught second ball by Stewart Walters and Essex now needed 31 off 24.

The over from Dernbach – broken up when an increasingly rowdy Chelmsford crowd had to be quelled by stewards – only went for six and Surrey were still in the game.

Another good over followed from Spriegel, marred only by a giant six smashed by Walker that was almost larger than the one hit by Ramprakash earlier. Essex now needed 14 off 12 balls.

The nineteenth over, bowled by Andre Nel, went for eleven though and despite Gary Wilson brilliantly running out Walker with a ten pin bowling style run out from behind the stumps, Dernbach was only defending three off the last.

Ten Doeschate skied the first ball high into the night sky but Usman Afzaal was unable to judge it correctly and the batsmen ran two whilst the ball came down. Dernbach produced a great bouncer next ball for a dot and third was skied again by the Dutchman, who was this time caught by Stewart Walters in the off side.

A slower ball followed by the Guildford quick but with one needed off the last two balls, Grant Flower was able to drive a one bounce four into the Chelmsford crowd for a dramatic victory that left Surrey with two wins and two defeats so far in this year’s competition.

The Brown Caps next play at the Rose Bowl against the Hampshire Hawks on Sunday (May 31st) before taking a break from the competition until the end of June.