Surrey vs Somerset T20 Blast

Surrey have named a thirteen man squad for the NatWest T20 Blast game against Somerset at the Kia Oval this evening.
Tillakaratne Dilshan is named in the squad having returned from the recent One Day International Series between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Stuart Meaker returns to the squad but Tom Curran is unavailable due to the ankle injury he sustained in the last match against Glamorgan.   
there is no place in the suad for Vikram Solanki.
The Surrey squad to play Somerset in the NatWest T20 Blast at the Kia Oval on Wednesday 16th July:
Gary Wilson (capt)
Zafar Ansari
Gareth Batty
Rory Burns
Steven Davies
Matthew Dunn
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Azhar Mahmood
Stuart Meaker
Robin Peterson
Kevin Pietersen
Chris Tremlett
Jason Roy

The whole of Surrey v Somerset will be broadcast on Sky Sport 2 with coverage starting at 18:00   

Please leave out the P(i)eterso(e)ns!!!

Oops - duplicate post.

Despite Dave's plea, my guess would be that Burns and Dunn will miss out.

I saw Somerset lose a t20 game to Middlesex at the Oval last month. They were very poor that night, hope they haven't turned it around.

Hmmm. Burns and Meaker miss out. Seems strange that Meaker was pulled out of a seconds' match (think that's right) only to be left on the bench.

Surrey win toss and bowl.

Not happy that dunn is starting instead of meaker

jimbobgooner wrote:Not happy that dunn is starting instead of meaker

However, Clive turns in a very handy performance with 2 overs yielding 3 - 8. Who would be a selector?   

Also good bowling figures from Ansari, Batty and Peterson.  Hopefully 137 will be a gettable target.

A rare failure from Roy.   

30 -1 after 4 overs.

When Craig Overton bowled for Somerset against Middlesex at the Oval last month, I was struck by how slow he seemed. Interesting to see what rate he bowls at tonight.

54 - 1 after 6 overs. KP and Dilshan going well. So far....

From what I've heard, haven't seen Craig bowl till tonight, Jamie is the sharper of the two (spray it everywhere though and has a no-ball isue) and Craig is very much a bowling all rounder. Surprised Gregory doesn't get a look in in T20, been a revelation in the CC this year.

70 - 2 Dilshan gone. Harold coming in next, ahead of Davies.

76 - 3 Pieterson out. Surrey wobbling. Don't need to panic with 61 more needed off about 10 overs.   

Good effort from Waller to keep Somerset still in this. Shame he's never really made the break through at first class level (JD - is that an opportunity thing?).

Rather poor at the moment 105 - 5 leaking wickets without scoring many runs.  

Can't say I'm too much of an expert on Waller, but I just don't think he's good enough to bowl in the CC. Has a nice enough googly, but doesn't really rip his leg spinner enough to cause consistent mayhem and a little bit too inconsistent too, especially on the flat deck that Tauton normally is. Think Somerset are very much in the Dockrell boat as their spinner for the future.

Will Beer has always been the guy who I rated higher. Shame he doesn't get more of a go in the CC. He's bowled beutifully in every T20 I have seen.

Good finish in store here!

Pointless run out.

Tremlett to the rescue....   

The Great Alfonso could be the difference here, 0-10 off 3. The next over from Overton is huge.

Surrey taking advantage here, back as heavy favourites. No way they lose from here.   

127 -7 Now 8 off 9 balls needed

4 needed off last over....

Ansari    

Overall, not a very convincing batting display. Thomas is a wily old fox  

Wobbled on the way but got there in the end. It was the bowlers wot won it - all credit to "a knackered mule" and the others. Expect Ansari to get some England recognition (Lions?) before long.

JD - thanks for your comments on Waller. Agree with you about the "inconsistency" aspect.

Good win for Surrey, we just didn't break the KP/Dilshan partnership early enough. I would have perhaps given Nannes or Thomas the Overton over, and made sure we got to the last over. Easy to say in hindsight though.

guildfordbat wrote:Wobbled on the way but got there in the end. It was the bowlers wot won it - all credit to "a knackered mule" and the others.

Haha! Guildford are you quoting me? If so I am honoured! I am sure my comment about Batty will come back to bite me when Surrey visit New Road at the end of the season and fully expect him to turn it square on a surface playing like glass to all others.

I caught the last 10 overs of the game tonight and thought Surrey battled impressively having very nearly thrown it away in the middle overs. Ansari once again evidenced the cool head he seems to have on those shoulders. A penny for the thoughts of Robin Peterson though... what on earth is an international cricketer doing ignoring his partner's repeated calls to turn back? At a key juncture in the game it was not really what a side is looking for from one of their overseas pro's.

Pack - you might think that, I couldn't possibly comment.

Ansari is a very impressive cricketer and individual. I'm sure he'll go far.

Robin Peterson has never properly got going for us, something of a disappointment to date.

I was Right to say leave out dunn

Just got back from The Oval. It became a tense occasion in the end but Surrey always just looked in control especially with Ansari coming in so low down and Batty in particular still to come.

OK - now a few questions for any Somerset correspondents if they have time please.

1. Did Somerset misread the surface ? Wouldn't a second spinner have been handy ? Dockrell fielded as twelfth man so presumably he is fit.

2. My second question was going to be why wasn't Gregory playing but I saw an earlier comment that he doesn't play T20 so I'll change my question to - why doesn't Gregory play in the T20 ?

Hi Beehive - re question 1: in the post match Sky interview, Thomas said that he and the coach spent half an hour deliberating whether to bring in Dockrell or retain the side that won their last t20. He pretty much acknowledged that the latter choice was the wrong one.

Thanks gb. Haven't heard the interviews. I think they were on the giant screen as I was leaving but I couldn't hear what was being said.

I guess it was a tricky call whether to change a winning team but Somerset have so many good quality seamers that I would have thought having an extra spin option was the obvious way to go. Maybe I'm talking with a certain amount of hindsight.

From Surrey's point of view, apart from the win of course, I thought Dunn's 'death over' was one of the biggest plusses. Without Dernbach or Curran I was worried about the support for Azhar at the end and Dunn came up trumps this week. It's early to say he's the answer but it's an area where we need some options as we possibly may not have Azhar or Dernbach next season to carry out that important function.