MATCH REPORT: Surrey win by seven wickets at Sedbergh
An unbeaten century partnership between Adam Thomas and Josh Blake took Surrey to a seven-wicket victory against Lancashire in the Metro Bank One Day Cup opener at Sedbergh.
The pair came together with the game in the balance with the visitors three wickets down and needing 122 to win from 15 overs. The duo produced a perfectly judged alliance to win the game with 14 balls to spare.
Half centuries from Keaton Jennings, Marcus Harris and Michael Jones had helped Lancashire post 280-5 from their 50 overs after being in to bat.
Jennings and Josh Bohannon anchored the early part of the innings before Harris and then Jones upped the tempo over the second half.
Surrey openers Dom Sibley and Ryan Patel set the perfect platform for the visitors run chase of 281 in the Sedbergh sunshine with a 123-run stand.
England opener Sibley was untroubled as he eased to fifty off 69 balls while fellow opener Patel looked equally at ease, apart from one difficult chance offered when he had made 11.
Patel took 60 balls to reach his half century, going to the landmark moments after he had driven Charlie Barnard for six over long-off.
The hundred partnership arrived from the first ball of the 22nd over and it seemed that the 25-over drinks break played a part in helping Lancashire make a desperately needed breakthrough, with Patel playing a touch lazily at the first ball from George Balderson when play resumed, edging behind to Matty Hurst for 58.
Five overs later Sibley finally made an error, bowled for 65 round his legs sweeping at Harry Singh followed swiftly by skipper Rory Burns, lbw for 5 sweeping at Arav Shetty, leaving Surrey 159-3 needing 122 off 15 overs.
Thomas and Blake fought back strongly, Blake thumping Barnard for six over midwicket to reduce the target to 78 off 10 overs while Thomas was excellent in reaching an attacking fifty off 55 balls.
The pair took 34 balls to add 50 runs, and their partnership finally broke the run chase with 45 runs hammered in a three-over spell from the 44th over.
Blake survived a dropped catch when on 29 and he raced to his fifty off 34 balls before finishing matters in style with a six over backward square leg, with Thomas 82 not out from 76 balls.
Having lost seventeen players to The Hundred, Surrey brought in South African all-rounder Tiaan van Vuuren and Australian seamer Benji Floros to bolster their one-day side, and it was van Vuuren who struck early when bowling Hurst for 2 with his fifth delivery.
Jennings and Bohannon proceeded cautiously in the face of some accurate Surrey bowling with Lancashire 30-1 after the ten over powerplay, although Bohannon broke the shackles slightly when hitting three consecutive fours off Floros in the ninth over.
The pair brought up their fifty partnership off 91 balls when Jennings drove Ryan Patel for four before Bohannon fell for 40 off 68 balls to left arm spinner Yousef Majid following an excellent catch over his shoulder by Sibley running back from mid-on, leaving Lancashire 83-2 in the 23rd over.
Harris quickly added some impetus, reverse sweeping Majid to third man, the first of three fours early in his innings and continued to progress steadily at a run-a-ball pace.
But Jennings, having reached his half century off 83 balls, gave a return catch off a leading edge to Patel having made 64 with the Red Rose side 161-3 at the start of the 36th over.
Surrey lost van Vuuren to injury one over later when the overseas quick pulled up attempting to start his seventh over but Flores, having been square cut for four and driven for six by Harris then had the left hander caught behind driving for 60 off 59 balls.
Singh picked out Flores at deep square leg off Tommy Ealham for 17 but Jones hit out to great affect during the closing ten overs, pulling Flores over midwicket for six to add to his 8 fours in making an unbeaten 67 off 45 balls.
Shetty, making a welcome return after injury, contributed 20 not out off 13 balls with 90 runs taken from the final ten overs providing just the acceleration that Lancashire required.
Sadly, it proved to be not enough as Surrey reached their target in the 47th over finishing on 285-3.
“I think it was a nice toss to win," said new Lancashire one-day captain George Balderson.
“It felt like the feedback we were getting from our batters early doors was that it was hard work, it was seaming and bouncing.
"Whether we just didn't bowl as well as they did early doors or whether the pitch got a little better, I'm not sure, but credit to their batters. They played well and we couldn't break the partnerships when we needed to.
“We thought our score was around par. Maybe actually some of the lads who were out there early doors thought we were a little bit above par, but we knew that it's a small ground and if someone gets in, they can score quite quickly.
“So, we knew we had a task on our hands and really we needed early wickets to make a dent into their experience at the top of the order.
“When we didn't get that, we fought hard, but ultimately they came through.
“We've got to try and find a way to break their partnerships earlier than we did today.
“We all know that wickets win you games in one-day cricket and we didn't manage to get them.
“We fought well and, like I say, either side of drinks, we squeezed well.
“Arav (Shetty) came on and bowled well, Harry Singh bowled well. We managed to squeeze a wicket or two, but we just didn't do it for long enough.”
Ken Grime
Photos: Luke Adams & Dan Adams