A full round-up of everything that happened between Surrey and Yorkshire in the Royal London Cup match at Scarborough on Thursday.
WHAT HAPPENED
Gus Atkinson’s four-wicket List A debut helped Surrey make a winning start to their Royal London Cup campaign as they eased past Yorkshire by five wickets at Scarborough.
Atkinson, 23, prospered with the new ball on a fast and bouncy North Marine Road pitch, claiming four for 43 to bowl the Vikings for 165 in only 35 overs.
Hashim Amla elected to bowl at the start of this Group B fixture, and the South African batting great later went beyond 10,000 career runs in this format with 29 to begin a successful chase.
But Mark Stoneman played the match-clinching innings, an unbeaten 73 off 110 balls, having only just returned to Surrey following a four-game T20 loan spell with Yorkshire.
Stoneman and co survived four for 57 for South African overseas quick Mat Pillans, who moved from Surrey to Yorkshire in late 2018.
This fixture included 12 players making their List A debuts, including Surrey’s Amla.
Eight of those – four on each side – were making the first appearance of their List A careers.
Atkinson made the initial breakthrough by bowling Will Fraine in the second over before getting George Hill caught at square-leg and Jonny Tattersall caught behind as the hosts slipped to 40 for four in the 10th.
Matthew Revis, another List A debutant, top-scored for Yorkshire with 43 off as many balls, while Gary Ballance made 39.
They shared 81 inside 13 overs for the fifth wicket. But wickets fell quickly once more.
The Vikings tumbled from 121 for four in the 22nd, losing their last six for 44 as most of the damage was done from the Trafalgar Square End.
Opener Harry Duke, Hill, Ballance and Pillans were all undone by extra bounce, while Revis and Dom Bess will reflect on loose dismissals.
This certainly wasn’t the way Yorkshire captain Bess would have wanted to celebrate his 24th birthday, with him skewing Dan Moriarty’s left-arm spin to long-off.
Hill and Pillans fell caught off top-edged pulls against Atkinson, the latter courtesy of a stunning diving catch on the run towards backward square-leg from wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
Ballance fended a short ball from Conor McKerr to gully, sparking the late clatter of wickets from 121 for four.
Amla and opening partner Stoneman then steadily shared 59 inside the first 13 overs of the chase.
Stoneman hit two fours and slog swept Bess for six as 14 came off the 12th, only for Pillans to claim two wickets in three balls in the 13th – 59 for two.
He had Amla caught at wide mid-on pulling before bowling Ben Geddes.
That forced Stoneman back into his shell, but he shared an important 54 with Smith.
Pillans then struck twice in an over again, getting Smith caught at midwicket for 25 and Ryan Patel superbly caught one-handed in the gully by Tattersall – 116 for four in the 29th.
Bess also bowled debutant Nico Reifer for an eye-catching 26, but Surrey’s victory was secured with 10.5 overs remaining.
POST-MATCH REACTION
@gus_atkinson1 sums up the mood in the dressing room after that victory.
@backandacross pic.twitter.com/IxbrafjxIp
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 22, 2021
TEAM LINEUPS
Surrey XI: Amla, Stoneman, Geddes, Smith, Patel, Reifer, David, Atkinson, McKerr, Dunn, Moriarty
Yorkshire XI: Fraine, Duke, Ballance, Hill, Tattersall, Revis, Bess, Waite, Pillans, Shutt, Coad
UP NEXT
Surrey will welcome Nottinghamshire to Guildford on Tuesday 27th July. This is sold out to non-Members.
Our next match at The Kia Oval is the visit of Northamptonshire on Friday 30th July. Tickets are available to purchase here.
