Roy steers Surrey to victory

27 May 2015 02:31

An unbeaten half century by Jason Roy steered Surrey to a tense three-wicket victory against Kent in the LV= County Championship Division Two match at Beckenham.

The win confirms Surrey as the nearest challengers to runaway second division leaders Lancashire.

Resuming at 44 for one on the final day and needing another 151 runs to reach their fourth innings target of 195, Surrey stuttered somewhat in their chase before Roy (60 not out) joined Steven Davies in a sixth wicket stand of 54 which went a long way to settling matters in a closely-fought contest.

When Davies and Gary Wilson fell in quick succession, however, Kent sniffed a last chance with their opponents on 177 for seven - but Roy finished things with a number of fine strokes.

In all, Roy struck 11 fours, including the winning boundary pulled off Matt Coles, and it was his entrance at number seven after Surrey had slid initially to 108 for five, which made the difference.

Kent will look to batting collapses in both innings for the main reason they lost, but bowlers have largely been on top ever since Rob Key and Sam Northeast added 133 for Kent's third wicket on the opening day. A pitch that played well enough, but on which batsmen generally never looked in, meant for a nervy final day for Surrey.

In warm sunshine, wickets fell regularly enough for Kent to believe they could prevent Surrey from scoring the runs required, but the turning point in Surrey's chase came when Roy all but played his first ball, from seamer Ivan Thomas, into his stumps. That escape sealed Kent's fate.

Coles had made Kent's most important strike of a fiercely-fought morning session, pinning Sri Lankan Test star Kumar Sangakkara leg-before for eight with a full ball, soon after Darren Stevens had forced Rory Burns (37) to inside-edge into his stumps.

Matt Dunn, the nightwatchman, then slogged Stevens to mid on, where Key ran to his right to hold the mis-hit. Dunn's 13 had been a useful contribution but at 75 for four it was Kent who were on top.

Dominic Sibley (17) was the fifth wicket to fall, edging Thomas to first slip where Stevens held a good low catch, but by the interval, Davies and Roy had steadied Surrey's ship at 141 for five. After lunch they added another 21 before Davies edged Adam Riley's off spin and Coles held on to a sharp catch at slip.

Coles then raised Kentish hopes further still by removing Wilson, who edged a drive to Sam Billings behind the stumps, but Roy's nerve and stroke-making ability saw Surrey home.

Source: PA