Surrey defeated but still win group

By Ben Horne
July 8 2005

Sussex beat Surrey by 3 wickets at The Oval, however Sussex still failed to qualify for the quarter finals and Surrey managed to finished top of the group. Surrey made 144 for 8, with Azhar Mahmood top scoring with 40 not out.

Sussex won the toss and decided to bowl and they were quickly reduced Surrey to 24 for 2 as both openers fell early on. Clarke was next to go for just 11 and Surrey were left 48 for 3. John Batty was next to go for a useful score of 22 as he was bowled by Mushtaq Ahmed, this left Surrey 79 for 4.Newman became Mushtaq’s second victim when he was caught by Yardy for 3. Mahmood and Salisbury added a useful 27, with Salisbury scoring 20 from 9 balls. Murtagh and Harbhajan Singh both fell cheaply, to Davis and Naved–ul–Hasan respectively. However Azhar Mahmood showed batting to be easy as he hit 40 not out from just 28 balls. He scored valuable late runs to help the lions reach 144 for 8.

Sussex started badly as they lost opener Ambrose in the first over as he was caught behind with Mahmood the bowler for 1. Ian Ward and Chris Adams then added 75 for the second wicket. Adams fell to lbw to Harbhajan Singh for 28. Ward continued to hit the Surrey bowlers and he reached 50 in quick time. However he could not add to this score as he was bowled by Nayan Doshi. Goodwin was next to fall for 13 as he was bowled by Murtagh, the Sharks were 101 for 4. Hopkinson fell shortly after and Sussex were looking vulnerable at 123 for 5. Michael Yardy, looked to have done enough to guide the sharks to victory, but when he fell to Clarke, Wright followed soon, and the game was looking close as Sussex were 140 for 7. Naved–ul–Hasan ensured a victory for Sussex with a six in the final over.

Surrey finish top of the group, but Sussex failed to qualify.

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