SURREY V KENT at the Kia Oval (Royal London One-Day Cup, Quarter-Final), 27 AUGUST 2015

Surrey had a firm hold over Kent in one-day cricket between 2002 and 2007, but since then the Oval outfit have struggled to get to grips with the hop county. Last year's clash between the two served up an epic. Set 315 to win, Surrey went into the final over still needing 16 for victory. But then two sixes in three balls - either side of a scampered two - courtesy of Zafar Ansari brought the equation down to two runs wanted off three balls. Alas, Gareth Batty was run out off the last delivery and the match ended in a tie.

This summer, Kent's success has been down to their lower middle order powerhouse of Sam Billings (268 runs at an average of 67.00 in the Royal London), Darren Stevens (31.20) and Alex Blake (62.00). But just as important have been the starts provided by Daniel Bell-Drummond (271 runs at 67.75), who has hit three half-centuries thus far on top of being a live-wire in the field.

Fabien Cowdrey has contributed with bat and ball, proving the ideal foil for James Tredwell when the brakes need to be applied. But, as is true in the County Championship, the key men for Kent are Matt Coles (13 wickets at 19.69 runs apiece) and Darren Stevens (10 scalps at 27.30). With Mitch Claydon (12 wickets at an average of 25.16) and Matt Hunn completing the picture, skipper Sam Northeast appears to have no shortage of bowling options at his disposal.

Hmmm... leave this with me. But I'll be honest, I can't see any obvious ones looming.

Jason Roy plays, despite being called up to England's one-day and T20 squads, as does Kumar Sangakkara, fresh from retiring from international cricket. Gary Wilson is on international duty with Ireland, but the hope is that Zafar Ansari is up to passing a late fitness test on his hamstring injury.

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks a lot better than it did 24 hours ago, but the London area has been subjected to more than a month's rain in the last few days. The Oval drains well, so the contest should get under way, as planned, at 2.00pm. Surrey will start favourites, but Kent are more than capable of causing an upset, as was illustrated in the NatWest T20 Blast. Provided the hosts haven't forgotten that and don't under-estimate the Spitfires, Surrey should take the spoils.

D Bell-Drummond, J Denly, S Northeast (capt), F Cowdrey, S Billings (wk), D Stevens, A Blake, M Coles, J Tredwell, M Claydon and M Hunn.

Michael Gough and Martin Saggers.

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