By ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay
A Ben Foakes-inspired Surrey defeated the Metro Bank One-Day Cup’s reigning champions Glamorgan, for whom Will Smale scored the first hundred of his professional cricket career, in a rain-shortened affair on Wednesday.
Smale, a 24-year-old from Newport playing his 15th List A match, finished on 105 not out from 106 balls and was chiefly responsible for Glamorgan reaching a 50-over total of 308 for seven at the Kia Oval.
But Foakes, captaining Surrey after Ryan Patel turned his ankle in the pre-match warm-ups, smashed 43 not out from just 17 balls and was joined by Josh Blake in an extraordinary stand of 77 in six overs that snatched the game away from Glamorgan.
Heavy rain forced a delay of two hours and twenty minutes after Surrey had made 21 for one from 5.1 overs. That resulted in a revised target of 146 in 16 overs, following Duckworth Lewis Stern calculations and a 5.50pm restart, meaning 125 more runs were needed in 10.5 remaining overs.
It looked a stiff task but, with 40 still needed from the last three overs, Foakes hit legside sixes off Kiran Carlson and Andy Gorvin – after Blake had also struck Carlson for a maximum to long on.
With eight only now required from the final over, Blake hit the first ball for four before being bowled for 27 by Dan Douthwaite’s third ball. And then, in a slightly farcical finish, Douthwaite bowled a high legside no ball, giving new batsman Cameron Steel a free hit. And when he hit high to deep mid wicket, from another no ball, Surrey had won with three balls to spare.
Put in by Surrey, the Welsh county initially stuttered to 213 for six in the 39th over before Smale was joined by Alex Horton in a superb seventh wicket partnership of 86 in ten overs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Horton, 21 and with just 18 previous white-ball appearances behind him, contributed a jaunty 35 from 30 balls while Smale pressed the accelerator in impressive style at the other end.
There were three sixes and seven fours eventually in Smale’s first score of 50 or more in List A cricket, with fast bowler James Taylor and leg-spinning all-rounder Steel bearing the brunt of his late assault.
For most of Glamorgan’s innings, however, it seemed as if a predominantly youthful and inexperienced Surrey bowling attack was doing a fine job of working their way through a strong-looking batting line-up.
Slow-arm spinner Yousuf Majid might have finished wicketless but he conceded only 41 runs from his ten overs across several spells while fast bowlers Nathan Barnwell and Alex French took three for 55 and two for 49 respectively.
Barnwell had both Sam Northeast (24) and Carlson (25) caught at the wicket before later seeing Zain ul-Hassan lift a straightforward catch to mid on, while 18-year-old rookie French put the embarrassment of bowling multiple wides in his opening over with the new ball to have Eddie Byrom caught for nine in his second.
French, playing his second List A game, also removed Asa Tribe for 16 in the 12th over and Glamorgan were in danger of underachieving when Douthwaite edged a leg-cutter from Taylor to give keeper Blake the third of his four catches.
Smale and Horton, though, built their stand with steady accumulation at first and then explosive acceleration, with Surrey’s bowlers seemingly powerless to prevent 91 runs being plundered from the final ten overs of the innings.
Rory Burns, inside-edging to keeper Horton as he jumped down the pitch on 12 to seamer Ul-Hassan, was an early Surrey casualty and after the restart there was a steady fall of wickets in a frantic finale.
Nikhil Gorantla and Ollie Sykes fell swiping – Sykes after two powerful straight fours off Gorvin – and Adam Thomas took 21 off slow left armer Romano Franco‘s only over, including successive blows of 4, 4, 6, 6 before being spectacularly caught diving backwards at long off by Carlson off Gorvin for 34.
“I haven’t played too much T20 cricket so when I came in and saw there were only just over seven overs left it took me aback a bit,” Foakes said.
“But Adam Thomas had given us some momentum when he took 21 off that over from their spinner and it was just a case for Josh and I to try to target the shorter boundary on one side and to play our shots.
“Josh played a very good hand too and managed to get a few away to the fine leg boundary as well as one six down the ground.
“Obviously it was a very late call for me to take on the captaincy today, once Ryan [Patel] had injured himself in the warm-ups, but we have a very young side so it was enjoyable to lead the team.”
Glamorgan’s century-maker Smale said: “Personally it was very pleasing for me to make my first hundred in professional cricket.
“And to do it at the Oval is particularly special for me because it is obviously a great ground and it is also where I made my debut as a pro. I quite like coming here!
“I felt in good touch out there and in the partnerships with Zain and then with Horts we tried initially to take the innings as deep as we could, and then later to put a foot down on the accelerator.
“To be able to do that was very pleasing indeed and this will always be a day I remember in my career because of getting my first hundred.”
Surrey travel to the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford, to take on Essex at 11am on Friday.
