Ollie Sykes drove Surrey to a four-wicket win over Hampshire with a clutch, unbeaten 72 in what was a tense and hard-fought Second XI Championship match at New Malden.
Resuming on 65/1, requiring 164 runs from 96 overs to win, Surrey were pushed into a worrisome position early on after Hampshire’s seamers started strongly.
EC Martin produced a delivery that seamed away from Arjun Gill (35) sharply, catching a feather through to the wicketkeeper AJ MacEwen.
Skipper Josh Blake (1), who scored a superb century in the first innings, departed shortly after in the same manner off John Turner before Martin collected his second scalp in the form of Tommy Ealham (6), who also was caught behind.
With the scoreboard reading 94/4 and Surrey still 135 runs short of the target, Sykes and Stuart van der Merwe (50) came together and steered their side closer to safety with a counter-attacking 96-run partnership.
The two left-handers batted proactively and took the attack to Hampshire. Van der Merwe reached a dashing fifty from just 42 balls but had to go the very next ball when he attempted to clear SL Davis over long-on.
Hampshire ended the morning session as they started it, wrestling themselves back into the game with the wicket of Adam Thomas (2), who was clean-bowled by Turner.
The equation in the afternoon session was simple – Surrey needed 30 runs and Hampshire four wickets. However, Sykes, who was recently named Wisden’s Schools Cricketer of the Year, and Yousef Majid (19*) didn’t offer any more chances to the visitor to sniff out a victory.
Batting with maturity and displaying impressive intent, the two left-handers completed Surrey’s well-deserved and hard-earned win at New Malden.
