Surrey Living Up To T20 Expectations

Published on: 27 Jul, 2017
Updated on: 27 Jul, 2017

All eyes on the ball as Surrey’s Ollie Pope looks to go on the attack with a “ramp” shot against Middlesex. Image source: Surrey CCC Twitter – Credit: Getty Images

By George Geaves

The 2017 Natwest T20 blast is well underway and Surrey has made a good start.

“The Rey” are currently joint top of the south group alongside Glamorgan on nine points and the two sides meet on Friday, July 28.

Surrey won their first two games of the season against Essex and Somerset, lost their next two against Middlesex and Kent but then went on to beat Essex and Middlesex at home before their game away at Hampshire was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Tom Curran has been in sparkling form taking nine wickets in six games and he has been excellent at bowling at the death.

In the first two games, Curran defended ten runs to get, and then 12, in the final overs. Last month he made his England T20 debut and this experience seems to have done the world of good for the young bowler.

His younger brother Sam Curran has also been in good form with bat and ball, taking seven wickets and scoring 83 runs.

Aaron Finch has been Surrey’s top run scorer so far with 249 runs at an average of 41.5. The Australian opener has combined magnificently with England’s rested Jason Roy. The destructive pair often get the Brown Caps off to a quick start.

Finch has hit 12 sixes this year and the crowds at The Oval have been loving it.

England legend Kevin Pietersen shot straight into the headlines when he played his first game in England for two years. He made a fantastic half century against Essex which included four sixes in one over.

However, he picked up a calf injury during this innings and he was not at his best two days later when he ran out Aaron Finch who was batting beautifully and only made four in front of the Sky Sports Cameras.

If Surrey manages to put together another run of results then they will be favourites to make it into the quarter finals for the first time since 2014. At the beginning of the tournament the Brown Caps were favourites to win the T20 Blast and halfway through the group stage they still have hopes of doing just that.

At the beginning of the tournament they were favourites to win the T20 Blast and halfway through the group stage they will still have hopes of doing just that.