BBC SPORT | Cricket | Counties | Hants hang on in thriller

B&H Cup, The Oval: Hampshire 243 all out (50 overs) v Surrey

A Robin Smith half-century took Hampshire to a total tantalisingly out of reach of Surrey in their B&H Cup clash at The Oval.

The tournament holders went into their final over needing 10 to win, but eighth wicket pair Alex Tudor and Ian Salisbury managed just eight.

And Surrey were condemned to their second successive defeat in the zonal stage of the competition.

That they had got so close was down to Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood, whose 50 came from just 37 deliveries, with three fours and three sixes.

He and Tudor added 69 for the seventh wicket after spinner Shaun Udal's four wicket haul saw Surrey fail to settle, despite a solid 52 from Alec Stewart.

But the innings lost momentum when Azhar was run out.

Smith was forced to bring Chris Tremlett back into the attack for one final over, after the youngster had leaked 39 runs from his first seven overs.

But the England Academy bowler did just enough. Tudor finished 28 not out from 29 deliveries.

Energetic

Surrey had fought back to restrict Hampshire to 243 after an electric start.

Smith stood firm, hitting 64 from 99 balls, with seven boundaries as his middle order fell around him.

Openers James Hamblin and Neil Johnson accepted stand-in Surrey captain Mark Butcher's invitation to bat with glee, scoring at almost six runs per over.

Azhar Mahmood slowed Hampshire late on
James Ormond made the breakthrough, dismissing Hamblin for 21 with the score on 53, but it only brought a similarly energetic Derek Kenway to the crease.

They were in full control at 100 for one until Tudor struck to remove Johnson, whose 46 came from just 35 balls and included nine boundaries.

Hampshire then lost three wickets for two runs as Azhar and Salisbury were introduced to the attack.

Azhar snared Kenway for 40 before Salisbury, preventing both Will Kendall and John Crawley from scoring, and Hampshire were reduced to 140 for six.

Ormond finished with three for 52, while Azhar did much to stem the flow of runs to return figures of two for 25 from nine overs.

Surrey: M A Butcher (Capt), I J Ward, M R Ramprakash, A J Stewart (Wkt), A D Brown, N Shahid, Azhar Mahmood, A J Tudor, I D K Salisbury, J Ormond, E S H Giddins.

Hampshire: N C Johnson, J R C Hamblin, D A Kenway, J P Crawley, R A Smith (Capt), G W White, W S Kendall, N Pothas (Wkt), S D Udal, C T Tremlett, A D Mullally.

Umpires: B Dudleston and J F Steele


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