CAPTAIN OLD AND CAPTAIN NEW STAR FOR RESURGENT LIONS by Marcus Hook
Surrey Lions 265-6 (45 Overs) v Northamptonshire Steelbacks 226 (41.3 Overs). Surrey Lions win by 39 runs.

A fortnight ago Surrey appeared to be odds-on favourites for the drop in the totesport League. But thanks to their third win on the trot the Lions are rapidly clawing their way out of trouble. With an unimpeded passage into the semi-finals of the Twenty20 Cup, the only other thing they need to do is find a way of kick-starting their bid to avoid relegation in the Frizzell County Championship.

The Lions’ second 250-plus total in as many matches provided the foundation for victory. The centrepiece was a fifth-wicket partnership of 151 in eighteen overs between Adam Hollioake and Jonathan Batty – Surrey’s captain old and captain new. Their match-winning stand set a new club record for any wicket against Northants – overtaking David Smith and Trevor Jesty’s unbeaten 139 for the fourth-wicket at Guildford in 1987 – and contributed to the county’s highest ever total for this fixture.

It did not look as though it would be when the home side were 18 for two in the eighth over, having lost Newman leg before for his third duck in as many totesport League innings and Ramprakash to a beautiful nipper-back from former Ovalite, Carl Greenidge. But with James Benning making his second fifty in three days and Rikki Clarke playing his part as well, after being dropped at extra cover before scoring, a big total was there for the taking once nine overs of Jason Brown’s slow left-arm had been safely negotiated.

With Swann also enjoying some success with his off-spin, when Greenidge and Phillips showed signs of faltering David Sales tried to fiddle a couple of overs out of Usman Afzaal. But as Afzaal’s figures would suggest the move backfired horribly. He came on with Surrey at 120-4 after 28 overs and when he was posted back on the long-on boundary they had moved on to 157-4 after thirty-one.

Hollioake, who made his highest one-day score of the season, hit an unbeaten 80 off 66 balls, including three straight sixes; while Batty equalled his limited-overs best for the summer in 60 deliveries, launching two maximums along the way, before being caught low down at short fine leg.

In reply, the visitors had fifty in the board in the tenth over. Despite the departure of Tim Roberts, to a well taken return catch, and Martin Love caught behind, their response was just starting to shape up nicely when Graeme Swann played on to Phil Sampson in the seventeenth over. Swann had every right to be angry, for his departure precipitated a collapse that saw five wickets fall for just 37 runs. Sales was out nibbling at Ormond and Afzaal, reaching for the ball, was caught at short extra cover off Nayan Doshi. Alex Tudor then had Rob White caught behind and Gerard Brophy trapped leg before.

The crowd were treated to some lusty hitting by Phillips and Louw, who added 52 in less than half an hour for the Steelbacks’ eighth-wicket, but the result was never really in doubt. Needing 41 off the last three overs, Phillips and Greenidge went in the space of three balls to hand Jimmy Ormond figures of four for 48 – his best in all cricket this term.

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