NEW CAMPAIGN, SAME OLD STORY FOR SURREY by Marcus Hook
Surrey Brown Caps 219-8 (40 Overs) v Yorkshire Carnegie 230-7 (40 Overs). Yorkshire Carnegie win by 11 runs.

Any Surrey fan who might have been hoping that the Pro40 League would provide their team with a late season lift, as it did for Worcestershire in 2007, now knows that Sunday afternoons are likely to prove just as frustrating as every other day of the week has been for the Brown Caps this summer. The Oval outfit might only have lost to Yorkshire by eleven runs at Guildford yesterday, but the margin of defeat flattered them. Going into the final over the home side needed 29 to win, but with Jade Dernbach clubbing two sixes and a four off the last three balls the scorecard made the contest out to be a nail-biter; which, in truth, it never was. After David Wainwright and Adil Rashid had squeezed the life out of Surrey between the 17th and 26th overs, during which only 27 was added to the Brown Caps' total, the outcome was beyond doubt.

To his credit Chris Schofield then played the innings of the day, an attractive 58 in 44 deliveries that included eight boundaries, which highlighted the failings of his more illustrious colleagues. A target of 231 on a good surface with a small boundary should not have been beyond the likes of Mark Ramprakash and Usman Afzaal, but with Scott Newman falling to a brilliant one-handed catch at second slip in the second over of Surrey's repost and Ramprakash being adjudged lbw in the next, the home side's assault was over almost as soon as it had begun.

Following the loss of James Benning, who gave Tim Bresnan a return catch in the eighth over, Afzaal, in alliance with Chris Jordan, opted for consolidation, which would have been all well and good had their stand of 65 for the fourth wicket not left the hosts needing 141 off the last sixteen overs. Afzaal, who made 41 off 67 balls, was eventually caught off a top-edged sweep off Rashid.

Jordan, who perished six overs later, was the first of Darren Gough's two expensively acquired victims. The second was Schofield who went, three overs from the end, to a well judged catch by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who took the ball over his shoulder running back from mid-wicket.

Earlier, after winning the toss and electing to bat, Yorkshire were handed a positive start by Andrew Gale, who top scored for the Carnegie with 44 off forty balls. In partnership with Jacques Rudolph, Gale helped the visitors put on 57 in nine overs for the first wicket before Rudolph was caught behind off Pedro Collins. Four overs later Gale lost his middle stump to Dernbach.

With Afzaal taking a brilliant catch at leg slip to account for Rana and Gerard Brophy getting stumped off Matthew Spriegel's second ball the home side had their noses in front for perhaps the only time in the match. Anthony McGrath and Adam Lyth then put together a stand of 59 in eleven overs for the fifth wicket.

In the 28th, 30th and 32nd overs Afzaal picked up the wickets of Lyth, McGrath and Bresnan, all to catches in the deep, but with Rashid and Richard Pyrah putting on an unbeaten 59 in eight overs for the eighth wicket the visitors were handed a serviceable total. Rashid finished with 33 off 34 balls, while Pyrah's 26 came off just 25 deliveries.

Apart from Afzaal, who took 3-43, the pick of the Surrey attack was Spriegel, who, with figures of 6-0-28-1, should perhaps have been employed more by Ramprakash, whose tactical ability continues to be suspect.

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