by Tom Huelin
With all the pre-finals day hype focussing on the retirement
of Hampshire’s Twenty20 skipper Dimi Mascarenhas at the end of this season, it
was Surrey who emerged victorious from a low-scoring semi-final, on a dank
Saturday afternoon at Edgbaston.
Vikram Solanki, the Surrey captain in the place of suspended
Gareth Batty, was naturally delighted at the end of a tense match that Surrey
won in the end by four wickets.
“We’ve worked extremely hard throughout the campaign,”
Solanki said just after Zafar Ansari had clinched victory with a four off
Sohail Tanvir. “It would have counted for little had we not got over the line.
Our bowlers have been outstanding as they’ve always been, although we put
ourselves under a little bit more pressure with the bat, but it doesn’t matter
how you do it.”
Looking forward to the final, Solanki reflected on the state
of the pitch. “I thought it had a little bit more pace in it than we thought it
would during the first semi-final, but it is a good pitch. What effect the
drizzle will have on it for the final, who knows.”
As one all-rounder – Mascarenhas – bowed out of
Twenty20 cricket today, another in the shape of Ansari delivered when it
really mattered, scoring 21 at the end, whilst taking the wicket of Liam Dawson in
the first innings. “He’s an intelligent man, and he obviously worked it all out
before he went out there. He didn’t go after some of the wides (bowled by
Tanvir), but then decided to attack Wood in the penultimate over.”
Ansari may have led his side to their first Twenty20 final
since they won the competition back in 2003, but Solanki was keen to pay his
respects to Mascarenhas, one of this competitions greats since its inception 10
years ago. “He’s just an outstanding performer isn’t he? He’s a great guy too,
and I’m sure everyone at Surrey would join in me in congratulating him on a
fantastic career.”
Mascarenhas was left to rue a disappointing performance with
the bat, his side failing to live up to their pre-match billing as competition
favourites, falling 20 runs short – at least – with the bat. “We saw in the
first game that 160 was a par score,” a deflated Mascarenhas said. “Three
wickets in the first six overs was a huge loss for us. They bowled really well
and that won them the game. Our batsmen just didn’t turn up today.”
It’s important to remember of course that Hampshire still
have the chance in the YB40 competition, the Royals currently lead Lancashire
by three points at the top Group B with just two games remaining. “The
opportunity to win trophies is what every county cricketer strives for, and
we’ve still got an opportunity at Lord’s.”
Hampshire have a fine balance of youth and experience in
their side, something that has often been lauded. With Mascarenhas not
available from the end of this year, the mantle now passes to the likes of
Wood, Dawson, Vince and Briggs. The question Royals fans will be asking however
is, are they ready? “The young guys are still learning,” Mascarenhas confessed.
“I know they’ve played a lot of cricket, and a lot of finals, but they are
still learning their games. As we’ve shown over the last few years, it’s been
mainly the older players that have got us through in finals, but there’s no
doubt they’re getting better.”
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