Surrey whitewashed the final County T20 group stage matchday, overcoming Essex and Buckinghamshire and finishing with 54 points and five wins out of eight to their name.
GAME TWO
In the second game of the day, an imposing bowling performance, led by Amy Gordon (3/8) and Charlotte Stubbs (2/14), reduced Buckinghamshire to 85 before Surrey trickled through to a five-wicket victory.
Asked to bowl first, the Three Feathers were on the money from the very start. After three miserly overs that cost the hosts nine runs, the first Bucks batter to depart became Holly Wilson, who was run out by Rebecca Denman for six.
Wickets continued to tumble in a hurry throughout the powerplay as the visitors finished the six-over period on 18 for four. Charlotte Lambert bowled Annie Townsend (5) three balls later after the fall of the first wicket before Stubbs had Pip Lloyd-Williams (0) caught by Emily Burke and Sophie Midwinter (1) was run out also by Burke.
Another Bucks batter fell as Amelia Ridgway (8) was caught by debutant Ivreen Dhaliwal off Stubbs before the visitors mustered a partnership. Lucy Warren, who top-scored with 28, and Tegan Stockdale strung a 20-run stand that was broken when Burke bowled the latter for 10, leaving Bucks on 45/6 in the 12th over.
Warren carried on accumulating runs for her side and took their tally to 68 in the 16th over when Denman struck, having the Bucks batter caught by Robyn Bentley.
Gordon was back into the attack and delivered a brilliant two-wicket maiden, bowling Natasha MacBean for two and dismissing Megs Woodward for nought. She claimed a third wicket on the final ball of the innings, finishing with 3/8 as Bucks were all out for 85.
Debutant Dhaliwal, who is in the South East Stars EPP and plays for Surrey u-15s, opened the innings with her skipper. The duo kickstarted in some style, taking the hosts past 30 in the fourth over.
The visitors, however, did not go down without putting up a fight and injecting some tension in the Surrey camp. Bucks collected four quick wickets on either side of the powerplay, starting with Dhaliwal being caught by Rosie BP off Bella Mason’s bowling for 13.
Three balls later, the skipper was cleaned up by MacBean for 17 before Ridgway had Johal trapped lbw for four and Stockdale dismissed Robyn Bentley for two.
With 42 runs still needed, Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones and Stubbs were in the middle, their partnership of 12 easing some nerves in the home dressing room before Stubbs was run out by Wilson.
Blinkhorn-Jones (19*) and Burke (15*), however, ensured that the hosts ended the T20 triple-header with smiles on their faces as their mature, unbeaten 30-run stand from 28 balls steered Surrey to a five-wicket win.
GAME ONE
Surrey secured a comfortable 38-run victory over Essex to kickstart their T20 triple-header at Weybridge. Laxmi Johal’s anchoring knock proved to be the perfect foil to Amy Gordon’s top-order dash before a clinical bowling performance clinched the win for the Three Feathers.
Having elected to bat, Gordon was in the mood to take no prisoners as she doubled down on Essex from the very get-go, taking 16 runs from the first over. The opening two balls of the innings were sent to the boundary rope before the Surrey skipper outrageously ramped Grace Poole for the third four of the over.
Despite losing Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones for one, Gordon continued her merry way in the powerplay, hammering five more fours and ensuring Surrey were off to a flyer. Gordon knocked off 36 of the 47 Â runs, from just 19 balls, by the time Jasmine Westley had her caught at mid-off in the fifth over.
From there on, Laxmi Johal (43) and Robyn Bentley (23) moved the scoreboard nicely post-powerplay, adding an important 50 runs together before Bentley was removed by Ashmitaa Surenkumar.
Bethan Miles (24*) and Johal continued the good work, finding the crucial boundary when required, as Surrey cemented their position in the game. Amu Surenkumar broke the 37-run stand when she bowled Johal, a recent double-centurion, seven runs short of her fifty.
Surrey managed to take 23 runs from the last 15 balls, despite losing Charlotte Stubbs for five, and finish on a highly competitive 157/5.
The hosts started on the right foot with the ball as well, with Miles bowling a tidy first over and Gordon claiming the first breakthrough, getting Jasmine Westley caught by Stubbs for three.
The skipper picked up another wicket in her second over, clean bowling Grace Poole for 10. Matilda Callaghan and Amu Surenkumar prevented Surrey from taking any further wickets in the powerplay but the visitors finished the first six overs well below par on 24/2.
The Essex pair continued to bat in a measured manner before debutant Shimako Kato picked up her first Surrey wicket when she had Matilda Callaghan caught by Gordon for 12.
Surenkumar, the visitors’ top scorer, was looking to make room and cut behind point from the leg side, getting cleaned up by Anna Lewis for 44 in the process.
An over later, Rebecca Denman – the second debutant in the Surrey side – also got off the mark as she had Scarlett Hughes caught by Gordon for one, leaving Essex on 87/5 in the 16th over.
Miles, who had bowled with precision all day, got her reward when she had Kelly Castle caught by Lewis for a busy 22 off 18 balls. By that time, the game was all but done.
Fittingly, Gordon, having led by example with the bat and ball, delivered the last over and Surrey completed a comprehensive victory when Blinkhorn-Jones ran out Yasmin Daswani for two on the very last ball of the match.
Before the start of play, Kato and Denman were presented their Surrey debut caps. Allrounder Kato is a 21-year-old Japanese international whilst Denman is a part of South East Stars’ Emerging Player Programme and has represented Surrey u17s and u18s previously.
