Surrey sneak to second win

Chris Schofield made a huge impact for Surrey, taking the key wicket of Chris Benham and effecting two run-outs

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Surrey held their nerve to beat Hampshire by one run in a thrilling Twenty20 Cup clash at the Brit Oval, despite the heroics of 19-year-old tailender Hamza Riazuddin.

Jade Dernbach began the last over with Hampshire 112 for nine, needing 14 for victory, but Riazuddin carved two boundaries from the first and fifth balls and faced the final ball needing another four for victory.

Dernbach held a hurried conference with Usman Afzaal, his captain, and several other Surrey players, and then bowled full and straight.

Riazuddin managed to hit the ball out towards the cover boundary, but James Benning made sure of the stop and two runs were not enough.

It was Surrey’s second win from three matches in the South Division, and Hampshire’s first defeat.

Another player at the heart of Surrey’s tigerish display in the field was Chris Schofield, the leg-spinning all-rounder who was in England’s inaugural World Twenty20 squad in South Africa in September 2007.

Schofield may have scored only 11 runs, but he took the vital wicket of Chris Benham, who had earlier swept him for two sixes over midwicket in a top score of 39 from 37 balls, and also pulled off two magnificent direct hit run-outs to account for Jimmy Adams and Nic Pothas and further undermine Hampshire’s chase.

On a gloomy evening in London, a crowd of around 5,000 were provided with an exciting – if low-scoring – contest in which Hampshire initially slid to 34 for three in reply to Surrey’s 125 for eight before rallying through Benham and Michael Carberry.

Indeed, at 91 for four after 15 overs, it was Hampshire who were clear favourites.

But Schofield’s strike to get rid of Benham began a collapse in which he ran out Pothas from short midwicket, with the Hampshire wicketkeeper punished for backing up too far.

Dimitri Mascarenhas was bowled by Dernbach, returning from a two-week injury lay-off, and Imran Tahir was also bowled, swinging wildly at Grant Elliott’s medium-pace, in the penultimate over.

Michael Lumb had earlier been stumped off Matt Spriegel from the second ball of the Hampshire innings as Surrey, exactly like their opponents earlier, were rewarded for the imaginative ploy of opening the bowling with a spinner.

In Surrey’s innings, it was Usman Afzaal who gave Liam Dawson, the slow left-armer, a return catch.

Schofield ran out Adams from mid-on and Sean Ervine’s brief but explosive innings of 25 was ended by a well-judged catch at deep midwicket by Benning.

Benham and Carberry, once of Surrey, added 56 in nine overs for the fourth wicket, but it was not enough.

Scott Newman and Mark Ramprakash both hit early sixes in the Surrey innings but, apart from some late hitting by Benning and Gary Wilson, the only real contribution of note came from Stewart Walters, who scored 30 from 22 balls before being bowled by Mascarenhas.