Bell’s boys strike as Survey collapse confounds gamble of battling first
WITH Surrey at 45 without loss in the ninth over of this year’s OneDay Cup final, any fears of an early morning collapse would have been receding as hopes of the trophy heading back south of the river to the Oval increased.
And, having won the toss and chosen to bat on a worn pitch which Surrey skipper Gareth Batty hoped would deteriorate, even the dismissal of Jason Roy didn’t look like the end of the world.
Surrey crumbled, though. The run-rate slowed and only Rory Burns, with 40, beat Roy’s opening 24.There have only ever been three lower first-innings scores than the 136 that was posted.
Surrey never looked like making Lord’s history with the lowest first-innings score to win a final – that remains the 168 set by Sussex, which Worcestershire failed to reach, in the very first One-Day final in 1963.
Credit has to go to Warwickshire this time round. Having restricted Surrey superbly, Jonathan Trott took full advantage of having a small target to chase as he bedded himself in. In the week where a new T20 tournament was the talk of the town, the former England batsman showed how to chase down a potentially tricky target.
Of course, this match does absolutely no favours for those who think the 50-over format is past its sell-by date. It was one of the most one-sided Lord’s finals in history, but those who travelled back up the M40 weren’t complaining about that.
And though Surrey were poor, Warwickshire captain Ian Bell was quick to praise his own side, who went about their job superbly, especially Laurie Evans’ catch of Roy, and Tim Ambrose’s stumping of Steven Davies off Jeetan Patel.
Bell said:“It was just a great allround performance. I don’t think it was necessarily Surrey playing really badly, although they might be harsh on themselves. It was just that we were outstanding with the ball. After that catch and the stumping, our bowling was high class.
“We peaked at the right time. You have to enjoy these wins. They don’t come round often. It means a lot to us senior guys who might not get here again.
“I can’t remember Warwickshire support like today.We must have had some frustrated supporters this year. But it was unbelievable. It felt like a home game. We were playing well, but the support was outstanding.”
The decision to bat seemed an odd one to begin with. But forget Geoffrey Boycott’s mantra of always bat first, and even if it looks like a bowl first pitch, you’ll have a think about it and then bat first. The white-ball game is a different proposition.
Surrey were runners-up last year, Gloucestershire getting the better of them, but this was a markedly worse display.
Early Warwickshire wickets may have given the Surrey faithful hope, but they managed to snare just two scalps, almost 20 overs being unused in the chase.
Perhaps a showcase final deserved a better pitch. At 45-0 though, it showed no demons. Warwickshire shared the wickets around, no bowler taking more than two, but Surrey capitulated.
And for Batty, while he acknowledges that Saturday’s performance was not at the level expected, the bigger picture has been painted.
The skipper, who got a Lord’s final duck for the second year
running, said: “We dropped off a cliff today. We didn’t turn up. You can lose with dignity and I hope we did that.We allowed Warwickshire to enjoy what was a very fine performance. Hopefully, we become better people and men because of that.
“I spoke to the boys in the changing room. Some of the group went through some horrible times a few years ago (the death of teammate Tom Maynard), and you can be relatively philosophical at times.
“Sometimes it can be straightforward. But it doesn’t feel like that right now. Fortunately we’ve now got six months to analyse exactly where we’re falling down. The crux of what was said at halfway needs to remain between the group, but I just wanted the boys to go about their disciplines properly.”
While the damage was done with the ball, the score did need chasing.
Trott averaged 72 to get Warwickshire to Lord’s and he maintained that superb form in the final. Opening the batting, the 35-year-old guided his side home, ending unbeaten on 82 off 100 deliveries.
He sealed an eight-wicket win with back-to-back boundaries to finish 18 short of his fourth century of the competition. The man with 52 England Test caps said: “When you’re reaching the end of your career, you want to put in performances and create memories.
“This was my fourth final but it’s the first time I’ve got above 15 or 20. It’s always nice to be able to say that I managed a score like that. It’s a surreal moment. It didn’t go too well here early on in my career, but it’s been better to me the older I’ve become. Maybe it’s the lunches!
“Once you step out of international cricket these finals are the closest you get to that level. It feels nice to have done well.”