SURREY V SOMERSET at the Kia Oval (Royal London One-Day Cup), 18 MAY 2018

First up, it's Somerset, who finished second in the South Group last year, one place above Surrey. But it was the Oval outfit who progressed through the knockout phase to the Royal London One-Day Cup final. Alas, their third Lord's showpiece in as many years ended, yet again, in defeat. Can they really make it four finals in four years?

In 2017 a certain D.Elgar was the rock in Somerset's one-day batting order, scoring 519 runs at an average of 103.80 in the Royal London. Jim Allenby, now retired, weighed in with 377 at 53.85 and Adam Hose, now a Warwickshire man, contributed 330 at an average of 55.00. In short, the batting line-up for the Cidermen will have a very different look. That said Surrey won't want to be reminded about what Roelof van der Merwe is capable of. In the corresponding clash, last term, he hit an unbeaten 165 to turn the game on its head.

Expect Somerset's bowling to be led by Craig Overton again. The England seamer bagged 16 Royal London wickets at 24.06 runs apiece last summer. Van der Merwe's slow left-arm accounted for 11 at 35.00, while Tim Groenewald and Max Waller applied the brakes.

Surrey v Somerset - List A Records Sheet

If he plays for Surrey, Will Jacks county debut. Looking at the opposite dressing room, Tom Banton could be set for his first List A outing. Lewis Gregory needs two more wickets for 75 in List A cricket, while Roelof van der Merwe and Craig Overton go into this contest with 2,457 and 484 List A runs respectively.

Morne Morkel is not fit, as hoped. Plus, instead of drafting in Ryan Patel to replace Mark Stoneman (who is now England's property), the hosts have named 19-year-old Will Jacks in their line-up.

Surrey’s recent List A form at the Oval makes for pretty good reading. Since the start of 2011, they have lost just five times in SE11, where their record over that period reads P30, W20, T1 and L5, with the remaining four fixtures falling foul of the weather. Having said that, Somerset are a savvy one-day outfit, who, like the hosts, come into this game on the back of some scintillating performances in the County Championship. So, perhaps the deciding factor is that Surrey would dearly love to have Jason Roy and Tom Curran available to call upon. The Cidermen have won 68% of their List A clashes with the Oval outfit and my head says they might get the upper hand over Surrey on this occasion.

J.Myburgh, M.Renshaw, S.Davies (wk), T.Abell (capt), J.Hildreth, R.van der Merwe, L.Gregory, C.Overton, J.Davey, T.Groenewald and M.Waller.

Rob Bailey and Paul Baldwin.

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