Tommy Ealham and Yousef Majid fought exceptionally well and added 90 runs for the last wicket, but their valiant efforts weren’t enough as Surrey 2nd XI lost against Hampshire by seven runs in the end.
When Surrey – on 271 and 98 runs away from victory – lost their ninth wicket in the shape of Amar Virdi last evening, it felt like it was merely a matter of time before the match ended in a defeat for the hosts.
However, number eleven Majid and set-batter Ealham embarked on an unbelievable partnership, which started as a consolation but soon got the Three Feathers hoping for a special victory.
Having held their nerves and battled hard to add 44 crucial runs last evening, taking Surrey to 315/9 at the close – 54 runs away from the win, the two of them continued the good work on the fourth morning of the game, slowly trickling down the target set by Hampshire. By the end of the 112th over, the duo had incredibly brought Surrey within 9 runs of victory.
Ealham, who was on 48 not out overnight, tried to keep most of the strike and find boundaries when possible, crossing an extraordinary half-century in the process and ultimately finishing on an unbeaten 75 off 155 balls.
To Majid’s great credit, he played as critical a role in this stunning partnership as Ealham, keeping out 96 balls while also contributing 29 vital runs for his team’s cause.
However, heartbreakingly for the hosts, the 97th ball that Majid faced – another testing delivery from seamer J Campbell in a good area – found the batter’s outside edge and was held by a diving J Eckland, meaning that Surrey were all out for 361, eight runs short of their target.
Besides Ealham and Majid, Ben Geddes’ (111 off 189) brilliant century in the fourth innings stood out for the hosts, while F Organ (3/93), DC Kelly (2/23) and Campbell (2/52) bowled well for the visitors as New Malden was treated to four days of engrossing red-ball cricket.
