Glo’sters have hopes ended by Plunkett
GLOUCESTERSHIRE missed out on an appearance in the final of the Vitality T20 Blast as Surrey triumphed by six wickets in yesterday’s rain-reduced 11-over semi-final.
A match originally scheduled for 11am on Saturday eventually got under way at 3.15pm yesterday in truncated form due to the weather, with Surrey chasing down a winning target of 74 with eight balls of the match to spare.
Former Somerset man Jamie Overton rubbed salt into the Gloucestershire wounds by hitting his first ball for four to secure victory for Surrey.
Richard Dawson’s men were kept to 73 for seven after being sent in, World Cup winner Liam Plunkett taking three for 12 while Reece Topley and Will Jacks helped squeeze the run-rate.
David Payne took three Surrey wickets to fall during the reply, but there were never enough runs to play with.
Gloucestershire’s innings started slowly and never quite recovered.
Miles Hammond set the tone, chewing through 11 balls for just one run and trying a series of illjudged reverse sweeps off Jacks before being put out of his misery by Topley.
Jacks, having starred with four wickets in the quarter-final win over Kent, was again a key contributor with the ball, allowing just five runs from his 12 deliveries and picking up Gloucestershire’s dangerman Ian Cockbain for a three-ball duck.
Regular wickets tumbled, Chris Dent to Dan Moriarty and Plunkett picking off Ryan Higgins with his first ball. The 35-year-old seamer did not let things slip from there, adding captain Jack Taylor and then Benny Howell in a measured display that defied the increasingly frantic attempts to conjure big hits.
Howell at least managed a couple of sixes – to go with a paltry four boundaries in the entire innings – but Plunkett and Topley, who removed Graeme Van Buuren with the last ball, ensured there would be no late damage to their figures.
Van Buuren was then handed the responsibility to bowling the first over and promptly shipped 13 runs, equalling Surrey’s most expensive over as Roy and Jacks both cleared the infield.
Both openers fell to Payne, Roy to an excellent Howell catch and Jacks bowled on the full, to leave the chase 28 for two in the fourth over.
Howell showed off his variations as he dismissed Laurie Evans, but a solid stand of 29 from England Test players Ben Foakes (20) and Rory Burns (12 not out) eased any pressure on Surrey.
Payne denied Foakes the chance to finish things off, but Overton drove his first ball four to book a place against Nottinghamshire or Lancashire in the final, which concluded after the Daily Press deadline.
Gloucestershire skipper Taylor said: “I don’t think there are any excuses, we all wanted to play and prepared to play and were excited to get out there, but we weren’t quite good enough. We didn’t quite sum up the conditions, I reckon we only needed 15 more runs.
“The guys at top of order have done it for us all the way through the competition, but Surrey bowled really well and we couldn’t quite get it away it in the overs.
“It’s disappointing, winning eight out of the last nine and playing amazing cricket, but then come Finals Day and we didn’t get over the line. We have to take the positives out of this, we are a quality T20 team but we didn’t turn up today. We have the tools to win, but it’s about coming back next year and putting that right.”