Surrey vs Kent: Sean Abbott steals the show with remarkable 110 not out
Surrey make it two wins out of two at the start of their T20 Blast campaign. They beat Kent by 41 runs to secure top spot in the south division.
This was thanks to a quite remarkable inning from Surrey all-rounder Sean Abbott who smashed 110 off 41 deliveries. He helped his side to a huge total of 223-5.
Kent’s opening pair got off to a flying start in response. Daniel Bell-Drummond and Tawanda Muyeye managed an opening partnership of 10o runs. But no other Kent batsman could continue the success of the opener’s work, falling well short of Surrey’s total with a score of 182-7.
Surrey innings
Surrey’s innings got off to a decent start with Will Jacks and Laurie Evans clearing the boundary rope early.
After being dropped shortly before, Jacks was dismissed. The all-rounder was caught at third man by Jack Leaning off the bowling of George Linde for 17.
Soon after Jack’s departure, his opening partner Evans followed him back to the dugout. Kane Richardson dismissed him caught at deep mid-wicket by Leaning.
After a brief partnership from Tom and Sam Curran, they were also dismissed without troubling the Kent bowlers too much. Tom was brilliantly run out by Jordan Cox and Sam picked out Joey Evison off the bowling of Grant Stewart.
This brought Sean Abbott and Jamie Smith to the crease. After a few over of stability by the pair, Smith departed the ball after hitting a six over extra cover. Leaning took his third catch off the match to dismiss Smith off the bowling of Hogan.
That brought Jordan Clark to the crease who strolled up to take the best seat in the house to watch something quite remarkable.
With the score 94-5, Abbott seemed to be batting on a different pitch from the other Surrey batsmen and took the attack to the Kent bowlers.
Abbott brought up his 50 in just 23 balls after some really clean striking.
The Australian all-rounder didn’t stop there hitting the helpless Richardson for 30 off his third over.
Soon after, Abbott was fatefully dropped on 87 by Evison.
This proved to be costly for Kent as Abbott continued to hit boundaries for fun, bringing his first ever T20 100 up with yet another six.
Surrey finished their innings with 223-5, Abbott top scoring with 110 not out.
Kent’s innings
In response, Kent started well.
Both Daniel Bell-Drummond and Tawanda Muyeye hit boundaries early in pursuit of Surrey’s total.
The opening partnership continued to blossom with Bell-Drummond passing his 50, closely followed by Muyeye who brought up his half-century as well as Kent’s 100.
However, Bell-Drummond was dismissed soon after the milestone. He was dismissed for 52, caught by Tom Lawes at deep square-leg off the bowling of Sunil Narine.
That brought Joe Denly to the crease, who continued to score rate above the required rate.
Sam Curran then brought himself back into the attack to stop the scoring rate of the Kent batsmen and duly did so. He removed Denly for 22, caught by Jamie Overton on the long-off boundary.
Another bowling change for Surrey brought about another wicket. Jacks the bowler dismissed Muyeye who was caught by Abbott on the deep mid-wicket boundary for 59.
The wickets kept tumbling for Kent as Jacks picked up his second off the over. Linde was caught on the long-on boundary without troubling the scorers.
Yet another Kent batsman then fell, this time the Kent captain Sam Billings. He was caught by Jacks off the bowling of Tom Lawes.
The game seemed to be slipping out of Kent’s hands as Narine picked up his third wicket. He removed Leaning for 5, caught again by Jacks.
Cox tried his best to keep the scoring rate up for Kent but he also couldn’t take them over the line. Tom Lawes picked up his second of the match taking the wicket of Cox for just 10, caught by captain Sam Curran.
Some late boundaries from Evison and Stewart were not enough to see Kent over the line, finishing on 182-7 as Surrey ran out winners by 41 runs.
Unsurprisingly, Abbott was man of the match for his magnificent 110 not out.
