SURREY POWER THEIR WAY INTO FINALS DAY by Marcus Hook
Gloucestershire Gladiators 144 (18.5 Overs) v Surrey Brown Caps 224-5 (20 Overs). Surrey Brown Caps win by 80 runs.

Thanks to a partnership of 139 in twelve overs between Mark Ramprakash and Rikki Clarke, plus another four-wicket haul for Nayan Doshi, Surrey powered their way into the last four of the Twenty20 Cup by brushing aside a Gloucestershire side that appeared oblivious as to what had hit them well before they set-off in pursuit of a victory target of 225.

Right from the very first ball the visitors made their intentions abundantly clear. Having reached the semi-finals in every season since the introduction of the Twenty20 Cup, the Brown Caps were not going to allow anyone to deny them the chance of being at Trent Bridge on 12 August.

Given that Surrey's game plan is normally to put a big total on the board and then strangle the life out of the opposition batsmen with spin, it came as something of a surprise when hosts won the toss and elected to field.

The only time Gloucestershire could have considered themselves to be on top was when Alistair Brown edged Ian Harvey to slip in the second over. But Surrey's next man in, Mark Ramprakash, proceeded to hit the Australian all-rounder straight down the ground for six and collect another maximum off the next over, which was bowled by James Averis.

James Benning kept things motoring at the other end, but in the seventh over he was caught at deep gully off Alex Gidman. Mark Butcher then slog swept Martyn Ball's off-spin to Ian Fisher, but the arrival of Rikki Clarke at the crease saw the Brown Caps go into overdrive.

Clarke's first three boundaries were all sixes. He picked Gidman up over square leg and then hit successive straight sixes off Ball.

Surrey went on to make their highest ever total in the Twenty20 Cup. In the process, Ramprakash and Clarke established a new club record for the fourth wicket; surpassing Thornely and Clarke's unbeaten 75-run alliance against Middlesex at Lord's last season.

But Clarke was more than fortunate to survive chances, when 32 and 39. The first should have taken at long-on by David Brown off Gidman, and the second came when Mark Hardinges called for a vertical catch off his own bowling, which it would have been much simpler to have left to the wicketkeeper.

In the fourteenth over Clarke reached his fifty off 26 balls and in the very next over Ramprakash posted his half-century in 34 deliveries when he hit Hardinges through extra cover for four. Both batsmen then clubbed straight sixes off Fisher. Ramprakash's maximum brought up the hundred partnership.

Despite the loss of the former Middlesex man, who was caught at mid-off, and Azhar Mahmood, taken on the straight boundary, the visitors were able to rack up an imposing total.

Gloucestershire's hopes of becoming only the second team ever to make more than 200 in twenty overs against the Brown Caps faded as soon as Harvey became the visitors' third victim in the seventh over.

Having seen Craig Spearman caught at deep square leg off Azhar and Hardinges run out by a direct hit from the twelfth man, Stewart Walters, at mid-on, the Australian all-rounder was guilty of attempting to cut Anil Kumble off his stumps.

Two overs later Hamish Marshall was run out by Jonathan Batty, Doshi then had Chris Taylor caught at long-on and 81 for five became 132 for nine as Batty collected three stumpings and Doshi got one to squeeze through Ball's defences.

GO TO:

BACK TO: