Drawn Match Finishes in Spectacular Style

9 May 2009

An amazing climax and spectacle was witnessed by all who were at the Brit Oval today as Surrey came within one wicket and Middlesex two runs of victory.

After Middlesex bowled Surrey out for 242 in their second innings, the visitors had 186 to chase in a minimum of 25 overs. They started positively as Surrey placed half their men on the boundary and Australian Phil Hughes blazing from the off. Andre Nel came under some heavy attack as Middlesex raced to 50 after 5 overs, with Hughes playing some unique shots as he moved around in his crease to find angles from which to score. Hughes was well supported by Nick Compton, scoring 28 from 24 balls. Hughes went to 50 and helped Middlesex to 99 before Chris Schofield had him caught behind for 57, with the batting side well in front at this point.

Eion Morgan came to the crease and showed his one-day form, as with Neil Dexter they continued the assault on the boundary boards. With the field spread there was also many twos to be had and Morgan was running the Surrey fielders ragged. With Schofield and Murtaza Hussain operating Middlesex were cruising, and Morgan hitting one almighty blow as he smashed a six into the Surrey players balcony.

With the score on 169, Morgan would try his luck once more off Murtaza and sky the ball to Mark Ramprakash, going for 41. Middlesex needed just 17 more runs off three overs, but Schofield and Murtaza would keep their nerve and clean up with four wickets a piece. Schofield picking up Dexter and Billy Godleman in the penultimate over, leaving 10 runs of the last.

Shaun Udal looked to have the game won when he hit the second ball of the last over into the OCS stand for 6, but very next ball Murtaza would bowl him whilst sweeping. Two balls later Steve Finn would then be LBW to Murtaza, as the off-spinner was keeping Surrey in the match. The final ball saw Alan Richardson needing 3 to win and after hitting the ball into the leg-side, a good piece of fielding by Stuart Meaker saw Richardson run out for 1 and a dramatic London derby finishing in a draw.

At the start of the day’s play and after adding only 6 runs to his overnight score Mark Ramprakash would depart when he drove on the up to Tim Murtagh and was caught by Phil Hughes at short mid-on. The Australian would have been very relieved to take the catch after he dropped him when on one the night before, Ramprakash out for 37 and Surrey 82 for 2. Shaun Udal came into the attack and Surrey would find themselves three down very quickly as Usman Afzaal departed for 6. Udal finding good bounce and turn from the Vauxhall end and finding the shoulder of Usman's bat as he pushed forward and was caught at gully.

Jonathan Batty and Michael Brown would build a nice partnership and take Surrey to three figures. Brown leading from the front with strong defence and Batty taking advantage of any full balls, driving well on the front foot. The pair looked resilient and were beginning to control the bowling as Middlesex found themselves short of seam bowlers. Alan Richardson was already off the pitch and Murtagh had to be carried off the field after a hamstring injury caused by chasing a ball in the outfield, this meant an extra work load for Steve Finn at the opposite end to Udal. Brown eased his way to a maiden First-Class half-century for Surrey and the pair were looking good in front of a well supported Brit Insurance Oval crowd.

However, Batty was given out for 30 off Udal, adjudged to have made contact on the ball with his bat when playing forward to be caught by Neil Dexter at silly point. A long appeal followed and Jeff Evans eventually raising his finger, Surrey 136 for 4. Udal would continue unchanged after the lunch break and his first ball to Brown saw Udal remove his former Hampshire team-mate for 73, caught at slip by Hughes. Udal was always a threat on the last day pitch as it offered turn, but also bounce, and he got his fourth wicket when Chris Schofield swept and edged through to Hughes once more at slip for 20. Udal would pick up a fifth wicket when Andre Nel defended on the back foot, only to see the ball bounce back on to the stumps, bowled for 2.

At the Pavilion end Finn was putting a lot of overs for his team and was rewarded with two wickets as he got both Grant Elliott and Jade Dernbach playing on the back foot. Elliott had looked good against the spin for 22 runs, but pulled Finn to mid-on and then Dernbach edged to slip for 4. Surrey found themselves 209 for nine and only 152 runs ahead. Murtaza Hussain and Stuart Meaker then held out for some time, as every minute counted. Murtaza would bat for over an hour and a half whilst really frustrating Middlesex, and with Meaker they batted for 47 minutes and adding a valuable 33 runs. A late tea was enforced as the extra half hour was taken and then Udal eventually claimed his sixth wicket when Meaker was caught at short leg for 15, Surrey all out for 242, leaving Middlesex the task of 186 runs from 25 overs, which they narrowly failed to achieve.

After the thrilling finale at the Brit Oval, witnessed by over 1500 spectators, Surrey would have been relieved to come away with the draw after they were made to work really hard as a result of not making sure with the bat earlier on the final day. Surrey taking 10 points from the game to move off the foot of the table.

Surrey Cricket Manager, Chris Adams, spoke to Surrey TV after the match. Click here to watch the interview.