SURREY V SOMERSET at the Kia Oval (FLt20 Quarter Final), 6 AUGUST 2013

The backdrop to this clash is the forthcoming battle between Surrey and Somerset to see who will be relegated along with Derbyshire in the championship. So, a victory tomorrow would also give the winner the psychological edge entering the business end of the four-day campaign.

Surrey have never lost a T20 quarter-final, but Somerset will also be looking to avenge the defeat in the Clydesdale Bank 40 final of 2011. The Cidermen's forte is chasing down a target, while the Oval outfit's preference has been to bat first. It all points to being a fascinating clash.

For Somerset, the key man is Craig Kieswetter, who is the leading run-maker in this year's T20, with 447 runs at an average of 55.87. Given that Jason Roy, who is Surrey's top run score with 244, also has less runs than Peter Trego, the cidermen have the batting to get the job done. Should Marcus Trescothick be declared fit it will be interesting to see if Somerset opt to leave out James Hildreth, who has had a poor T20 campaign by his high standards.

Somerset's dominance, on paper, extends to the bowling. The cidermen boast four bowlers with ten wickets or more in this season's T20 (Arafat, Thomas, Waller and Meschede) to Surrey's three (Dernbach, Azhar Mahmood and De Bruyn). The Oval outfit know all about Somerset's form bowler, Yasir Arafat. Arafat, who boasts 19 scalps at 13.31 runs apiece, not to mention an economy rate of just 6.80, was Surrey's overseas player in 2011.

But wickets will ultimately hold the key. In the three T20 South Group games Surrey lost they took an average of 3.33 wickets. Over the seven wins, their opponents lost eight wickets on average.

Somerset's Max Waller goes into this tie with 48 T20 career wickets.

Chris Tremlett is named in Surrey's 13-man squad, but would the Oval outfit be keen to tinker with a winning side? I suspect they will. Tremlett appeared to be back to his best at Lord's, as well as in the victory over Kent the following day. That said, Rory Burns, who is likely to miss out should Tremlett slot straight back in, has shown signs that he could be an asset in the shorter forms of the game. Burns is a model of consistency opening the innings in the championship. When Surrey have run into problems in the T20, it has been down to a lack of runs. Moreover, his ground fielding can be electric. One solution might be to leave out Jon Lewis. However, Lewis has been extremely economical with the ball. It's a tough one. Over to you, Stuart Barnes.

In the hope I'm wrong, a Somerset win. If the visitors could choose a venue other than Taunton, the Oval would be high on their list since it's likely to favour their top order. Surrey have an indifferent record against the Cidermen, plus it could be time for the Oval outfit's run of never having lost a T20 quarter-final to come to an end. 

C Jones, C Kieswetter (wk), P Trego, N Compton, J Buttler, J Hildreth, C Meschede, Yasir Arafat, A Thomas (capt), M Waller and S Kirby.

To be confirmed.

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