Check out the match report.................................................
A fantastic game of cricket saw Surrey narrowly lose to Essex by 5 wickets with 2 balls to spare and learnt a valuable lesson in the cruelty of sport.
Having won the toss captain Matt Couchman had no hesitation in batting on a beautiful day and flat Pitch at Harlow Town CC. With a number of internationals playing for both teams, the game was always going to be decided by a small margin and Surrey got off to a great start with Jonny Gale and Couchman putting on 77 before Couchman was bowled for 29. What happened next was a faultless 128 not out by Gale and he was suitably supported by Tayler Young whose unbeaten 65 meant that the 178 run partnership left Surrey with a staggering 254 for 1 off their 40 overs. Essex never gave up in the field and without some excellent captaincy and spin bowling from Walker, the score could have been a lot worse.
Surrey began brightly with debutant Jamil Khan and Luke Lockley bowling with the new ball and when Kenward and Levey struck in consecutive overs to reduce the score to 68 for 2. It required a partnership of luck, quality and skill to get Essex anywhere near. Jackson and Walker began to manipulate the bowling attack and the naivety and complacency of the Surrey bowling and attack had captain Couchman pulling his hair out throughout their 159 partnership. Kenward broke the partnership after Jacksons demise on 82 and this left Walker to attempt to shepherd his team home. With Surrey bleeding runs left, right and centre and missing chances to gain the control, it was left for Walker to run through a leg bye with 2 balls to spare to record a most unlikely but well deserved victory.
Head Coach Danny Baker stated “If you spoke to me last year, there was no way I would have predicted over 500 runs in a 40 over game with only 6 wickets down. I am absolutely gutted that we didn't seal the win but if you become complacent in games, teams like Essex will punish you and they were incredibly good value for their win. Cricket can be a very cruel game and the boys on both teams learnt valuable lessons about themselves and we are hoping to bounce back and learn the lessons from today as quickly as possible”.