Cricket

SURREY MISS PROMOTION

24 September 2007

Surrey missed out on the promotion play off by the smallest possible margin as their Pro40 season finished in an exact mirror image of last year.

In 2006 Surrey started the campaign strongly before fading at the death and missing out on promotion. In 2007 they started poorly before staging a winning run at the end but again fell just out of contention.

On Saturday at Grace Road it was the three youngest Surrey players in the team that led way in the field. Pace bowler Jade Dernbach took 2/49 with fellow quick Chris Jordan grabbing 3/29 and, in his valedictory appearance, Rory Hamilton-Brown taking an excellent 3/28 with his off spin.

Needing 232 to win, Surrey got off to a bad start as they lost Scott Newman and James Benning early on.

However, as ever is, Mark Ramprakash (72) imposed order on the innings and combined with Mark Butcher (62) to get the reply back on track.

Once Ramprakash was run out it was down to Matt Nicholson, uncharacteristically ineffective with the ball, to pick up the baton, regularly finding the boundary with a powerful knock of 57 from 31 balls.

The hero of the win was Jade Dernbach though, who was put on strike by Nicholson with four needed. The youngster followed up his two wickets by flying the last ball of the match out of the ground for six giving the Brown Caps yet another dramatic victory.

Sadly for Surrey, London rivals Middlesex defeated Somerset at Taunton leaving them missing out on a play off by the slimmest margin of run rate.

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