T20 preview as Surrey bid for Finals Day glory – Tom Curran a key player for Oval outfit

BY MARCUS HOOK

For the second year running, T20 Finals Day will be an exclusively southern affair, with all four of the teams that qualified for the last eight from the North Group floundering in the quarter-finals.

Surrey beat Durham with two overs to spare, but Sussex went one better, a day later, by skittling Lancashire out for 114.

Northants came closer than many thought to chasing down Somerset’s massive 215-3 (the Cidermen hanging on to win by 17 runs). Gloucestershire surprised everyone – not least the Birmingham Bears – by somehow managing to defend a meagre 138 at Edgbaston which, again, will play host to county cricket’s showpiece occasion.

For Sussex skipper Tymal Mills, delight at his side’s mauling of Lancashire was tempered by the prospect of being without fellow fast bowler Jofra Archer on Finals Day, which, incredibly, falls slap bang in the middle of England’s white-ball series with Australia.

“As far as I’m aware, no England players will be available for T20 Finals Day, which is pretty stupid to be honest,” said Mills.

“Obviously, no England players will be there from any side, but it’s a real shame for us to lose a player like Jofra. Whoever comes in for him will have big boots to fill.”

If Mills thinks losing Archer is a blow, perhaps he should spare a thought for Surrey, who will be minus Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith and Reece Topley due to the England-Australia series.

Smith, who is averaging 40.71 with the bat in this year’s Blast and who boasts a strike rate of 205 (per 100 balls) – the competition’s best as things stand – is arguably the biggest loss. If not, then it has to be the absence of Sam Curran’s propensity to turn it on with both the bat and the ball on the big occasions.

Nonetheless, Surrey will start as favourites with the odds-setters, who also seem to have overlooked the fact that the last seven winners have triumphed in the second semi-final.

First up, Surrey face Somerset, fresh from going head-to-head in the County Championship this week. Then, after the mascots’ race and no small amount of razzamatazz, it will be Gloucestershire versus Sussex tomorrow at 11am.

All four protagonists deserve to be at T20 Finals Day, which also means they’re all capable, with a bit of luck, of adding their name to the trophy.

Whatever happens, it promises to be a fantastic occasion.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Odds: 9-2.

Key man: David Payne.

Runners-up on one occasion (in 2007) and twice losing semi-finalists. Hardly anyone seems to be talking about Gloucestershire, even though they disposed of the winners of the North Group in the quarter-finals.

They certainly won’t be there to make up the numbers, after all the Bristolians are the only team in the last four with two batters who have racked up more than 400 runs in this summer’s T20 – Cameron Bancroft (442 runs at 31.57) and Miles Hammond (422 at 30.14).

David Payne can not only be relied upon to keep things tight with the ball, he’s also this year’s leading wicket-taker in the Blast with 29 victims at 13.27. Not far behind him is Matt Taylor, with 23 wickets at 16.26.

Prediction: If their key men continue to fire, the trophy could be heading back to Bristol for the first time.

SOMERSET

Odds: 5-2.

Key man: Tom Banton.

The defending champions are through to T20 Finals Day for the fourth year on the trot. No top order in the county game packs a punch in T20 cricket like Somerset’s leading willow-yielding sextet – Tom Banton, Will Smeed, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sean Dickson, Lewis Gregory and Tom Abell, all of whom boast strike rates in excess of 140 (per 100 balls) this term.

The pick is Banton (515 runs at an average of 46.81), who many feel deserves another go at international level. Key to Somerset’s bowling attack is skipper Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton applying the brakes coupled with Ben Green’s ability to produce a wicket just when it’s needed.

Prediction: If, like last year, they dispose of Surrey in the semi-finals, Somerset will stand on the brink of becoming the first county to win back-to-back T20 titles.

SURREY

Odds: 2-1.

Key man: Tom Curran.

Winners of the County Championship in each of the last two seasons – and on course, it would seem, to make it a three-peat this summer – Surrey have not lifted the T20 trophy since the very first one in 2003.

The South Londoners are the only side out of the four that remain without a batter who has scored 300-plus runs in this year’s Blast or, for that matter, a bowler with more than 15 wickets.

This is due to England and other commitments beyond the Oval outfit’s sphere of influence forcing them to deploy a total of 24 players.

While skipper Chris Jordan has struggled with the ball, Jordan Clark, Tom Curran, Dan Lawrence and Dan Worrall have all provided him with much-needed control.

Prediction: If Surrey learn from last year’s semi-final and build a base with the bat, instead of trying to hit every ball out of the park, there could be no stopping the cream of the South Group.

SUSSEX

Odds: 9-4.

Key man: Daniel Hughes.

This will only be Sussex’s fourth visit to Finals Day since winning the trophy in 2009. In Daniel Hughes, they possess the leading run-maker in this year’s Blast, with 595 at an average of 42.50.

At various stages, the 35-year-old Aussie has found useful allies in Tom Alsop (337 at 37.44), James Coles (342 at 34.20) and Harrison Ward (341 at 28.41).

But so often in T20 cricket it comes down to how teams perform with the ball. Although they will be without Jofra Archer, Tymal Mills (24 wickets at 17.91 runs apiece), slow left-armer Coles (19 at 20.89) and Ollie Robinson (18 at 20.38) they are proven partnership-breakers as well as difficult to get after.

Prediction: Whatever team the Sharks put out, all 11 players are capable of turning in a match-winning performance, which makes them genuine contenders.

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD