SURREY V NORTHAMPTONSHIRE at the Kia Oval (Royal London One-Day Cup), 27 JULY 2015

Northamptonshire have struggled in four-day cricket since returning to Division One after just a year in the top flight. But, the Steelbacks are now through to the last eight in the T20 for only the second time in five seasons. The last occasion was when they - or the be more precise David Willey - went on to beat Surrey in the T20 final.

Surrey will not only be looking to avenge that humiliation, but will also be determined to make up for their own T20 exit, which was precipitated by a wretched performance at Lord's last Thursday. With the mighty Yorkshire and then Durham lying in wait next for the Oval outfit, Surrey's prospects in the Royal London could easily hinge on this day-nighter.

One of Northamptonshire's undoubted strengths is the sheer number of bowling options at skipper Alex Wakely's disposal, which is in contrast to 2014 when Willey was their leading wicket-taker in the Royal London One-Day Cup with nine wickets. It has to be stressed that the 25-year-old all-rounder was limited to just three appearances; which, again, underlines his value to the Wantage Road outfit.

David Willey also topped Northamptonshire's List A batting averages last term, but right at the heart of things were Richard Levi and Adam Rossington. Levi comes into this contest on the back of hitting 87 against Durham, but watch out for 20-year-old Ben Duckett, who posted a new one-day career best yesterday, also against Durham.

On the Northants side of the coin, Josh Cobb (1,943) is approaching 2,000 List A career runs, while Rory Kleinveldt is just one wicket away from his 150th in one-day cricket.

The assumption is Surrey will name the same 13-man squad as travelled, to no avail, to Grace Road today - Zafar Ansari, Gareth Batty (capt), James Burke, Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Steven Davies, Jade Dernbach, Ben Foakes (wk), Aneesh Kapil, Tim Linley, Jason Roy and Kumar Sangakkara.

According to the weathermen, it'll be overcast and windy in the capital tomorrow, with just a chance of rain. So, all being well, Surrey's One-Day campaign will begin in earnest, albeit a day late. On paper, the hosts will start as favourites due to the drubbing Northants suffered yesterday at the hands of defending champions Durham. But this will be a much sterner test than the limber up Surrey could have expected, but for the rain, at Leicester today. Prediction - a win for Gareth Batty's men, but don't put too much money on it.

R Levi, J Cobb, A Rossington, A Wakely (capt), R Keogh, D Willey, B Duckett (wk), S Crook, R Kleinveldt, O Stone and Azharullah.

Jeff Evans and Neil Mallender.

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