Last night at Headingley, Surrey lifted themselves off the bottom of the totesport League Division Two table with a nail-biting three-run victory over the Yorkshire Phoenix. Tim Bresnan, who had not faced a ball, needed to hit a boundary off the last delivery of the innings in order for the home side to win. Slow left-armer Nayan Doshi fired one in, Bresnan swung and missed and, only then, could the Lions breathe a huge sigh of relief.

The result was set-up by Mark Ramprakash and Rikki Clarke, who took full toll of some wayward fare from Ian Harvey, whose nine overs were carted for 75. Surrey’s fifth-wicket pair put on 99 and the visitors collected 59 off their last five overs. But had Clarke, the dominant partner, not survived two caught and bowled chances early on in his knock the eventual outcome might well have been all together different.

The hosts’ response to Surrey’s 264-7 got off to the worst possible start when Matthew Wood, who made 111 when the two sides met at the Oval back in April, was caught at first slip off the very first ball of the Yorkshire innings. But then Phil Jaques shared in stands of 93 in 18 overs with Michael Lumb and 129 in 21 overs with Anthony McGrath.

Lumb struck a breezy 56 off 52 balls, including eight fours and a six, but it was the Aussie’s efforts that appeared to have put the Phoenix on course for victory, especially when Ramprakash and Benning went for 25 in two overs. That left the home side needing 80 off eleven with eight wickets in hand.

But Azhar Mahmood’s comeback spell soon accounted for Jacques, who fell two runs short of what would have been a magnificent hundred, and McGrath was run out shortly afterwards for 54 when Mahmood put the finishing touches to Neil Saker’s bullet return from long-off.

The Lions got off to a wonderful start thanks to an opening stand of 111 in 19.3 overs. James Benning’s contribution was a handsome 72 off 62 balls, which included a slog-swept six off the Tykes’ stand-in skipper Richard Dawson that brought up the hundred partnership.

Two overs later, however, the 22-year-old was out attempting the same shot and after losing Jonathan Batty, Scott Newman and Alistair Brown in the space of twelve deliveries, the visitors were forced on to the back foot. Batty was caught at mid-wicket off McGrath, Newman gave a return catch to Dawson and, in the same over, Brown, defeated by the turn, was bowled off stump.

After the game, Sky’s man of the match Rikki Clarke said: “I was confident that we had the bowling to do the job and in the end we did.” Clarke, who struck an unbeaten 90 off 71 balls but had to leave the field after bowling just four overs, added: “My pelvis popped out of place, which caused my hamstring to tighten and be quite sore. It meant that James Benning had to come on and bowl a few overs and Rampsy had to bowl himself as well.”

However, the 23-year-old was confident that the injury would not keep him out of today’s C&G Trophy quarter-final against Hampshire. He said: “I’ll just see how it goes tomorrow, with a bit of pool work and a bit of treatment. Hopefully I'll be ready for Friday, even if it’s as a batsman then I’ll try and be there.”

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