That’s all from this contest, folks! It’s me, Deepak Prakash, signing off on behalf of scorer/analyst Vishnu Verma. CHEERS!
1:56 AM IST, 9:26 PM Local Time: A dismal batting performance from Kent as they collapsed from 109/2 to 151/9 in 20 overs. Surrey bowlers staged a strong comeback in the second half of the innings to seal a 42-run victory. Earlier, after being invited to bat first, Surrey got off to a solid start as their openers, Ollie Pope (53) and Dominic Sibley (36) scored at a decent pace and added 83 runs for the opening wicket. However, things changed dramatically for Surrey as they lost wickets in clusters and were 5 down for 126 runs at one point in time. Laurie Evans came out all guns blazing and smashed bowlers for fun. He delivered a scintillating 62* runs off just 26 balls and helped his side post over 190 runs in 20 overs. Grant Stewart shone with the ball for Kent, claiming three wickets. Matthew Parkinson bagged a couple of wickets, while Wes Agar celebrated a solitary wicket. In reply, Kent lost Daniel Bell-Drummond for just 2 runs in the form of a run-out. Zak Crawley (46) and Joe Denly (28) added 61 runs for the third wicket and put Kent in a comfortable position. However, things changed in a jiffy as Kent fell like ninepins, and they failed to recover from the precarious position. Surrey bowlers continued their havoc and restricted their counterparts to 151/9 in 20 overs, securing a 42-run victory. Mitchell Santner shone with the ball for Surrey, claiming three wickets. Sam Curran chipped in with a couple of wickets, while Nathan Smith contributed a solitary wicket to the downfall.