Bopara’s opening night sees Essex fail in frantic chase
RAVI BOPARA’S first game in charge of Essex’s white-ball side did not quite go to plan but the skipper is confident the Eagles will learn their lessons.
On the opening night of the 2016 T20 Blast, the England one-day batsman’s side slipped to an eightrun defeat by Surrey at Chelmsford in front of the TV cameras.
It looked like being so different when Surrey – having been put in by Bopara – were struggling at 80-6 as Australian Matthew Quinn took four for 35.
But former Pakistan star Azhar Mahmood (42) and prospective England all-rounder Tom Curran (32) turned the tables with some lusty late-order hitting to lift the visitors to a more than competitive total of 170.
And that proved beyond Essex – despite Tom Westley’s 46 – much to Bopara’s intense disappointment afterwards.
“We needed to keep their score down,” said a disappointed home captain.
“Getting 170 after the good start we had and getting six of their batsmen out so early means that they shouldn’t have got there but they played well and batted deep.
“When Azhar [Mahmood] came in we wanted to go with our heavy bowlers downhill and he played well and saw them off in the first 20 balls, which was a blow.”
Bopara admitted that he felt sorry for the home faithful, who had packed the County Ground once again.
“The crowd have been brilliant and have been for years and we will do everything to get the result next time,” he said.
Elsewhere in the South Group Ross Taylor bludgeoned 93 not out for Sussex as they compiled an enormous total of 242-5 against Gloucestershire in Bristol.
The New Zealand batsman’s unbeaten 93, off just 48 balls, helped the visitors to their highest ever T20 total, beating the 239 for 5 they amassed against Glamorgan in 2010.
But they only won by one run – thanks to the Duckworth-Lewis method – as Gloucestershire, chasing 240 to win, looked well on course to make it a close one when the rains came at 83 for 1 off 7.3 overs.
And in the third game of the night in the South, Daniel Bell-Drummond (83 not out) and Joe Denly (75) helped Kent easily chase down Somerset’s total of 197-7 at Canterbury with eight wickets and 16 balls to spare. As The Cricket Paperwent to press on Thursday, Surrey were set to play Glamorgan at The Oval.