Delray Rawlins put in a man of the match performance as Sussex beat Surrey at The 1st Central County Ground by 17 runs.
Surrey opener Will Jacks looked to be leading the visitors to a target of 173 when he took his aggregate in this season’s competition to 396 runs with 76, his fifth fifty of the campaign and two days after his unbeaten 66 helped secure a last-ball win over Somerset.
But when he was caught behind trying to guide a quicker ball from left-arm spinner Rawlins into the off-side in the 15th over, having hit 11 fours and a six, Surrey’s lower order folded quickly and they were bowled out for 155 in 18.2 overs, their first defeat in any competition this season.
Sussex’s fourth win out of 11 was much needed, although they will need to win their three remaining games to have any chance of reaching the knockout stages.
Their 172 for five, having been put in, was inflated at the end by a crucial stand of 60 from the last 27 balls between Rawlins and George Garton, who was playing his first game since June 1 as he continued his recovery from long Covid.
Rawlins was in explosive form with the bat, and he followed up once again with the ball. He finished with 34 not out off 17 balls, he hit 3 fours and 3 sixes, he finished with bowling figures of 4-0-36-2.
Sussex Inning
..12 (13) HD Ward c Narine b Worrall ..48 (32) Mohammad Rizwan Run Out ..30 (19) AGH Orr c Smith b Atkinson ..11 (13) TP Alsop b Atkinson ..07 (14) RS Bopara c Atkinson b McKerr ..34 (17) Delray Rawlins Not Out ..24 (12) GHS Garton Not Out ..06 Extras (2lb-4w) 172 Total for 5 wickets after 20 overs
Fall of Wickets: 1-44 (Ward), 2-92 (Orr), 3-92 (Rizwan), 4-110 (Alsop), 5-112 (Bopara)
Surrey Bowlers
2.0-0-24-0 DT Moriarty 3.0-0-25-1 DJ Worrall 2.0-0-19-0 WG Jacks 3.0-0-17-2 AAP Atkinson 2.0-0-14-1 C McKerr 4.0-0-46-0 CJ Jordan 4.0-0-25-0 SP Narine
Surrey Inning
..76 (48) WG Jacks c Mohammad Rizwan b Delray Rawlins ..14 (11) JL Smith c Rashid Khan b Finn ..00 (02) NMJ Reifer c Mohammad Rizwan b Crocombe ..26 (15) LJ Evans c Ward b Mills ..06 (02) SP Narine b Rashid Khan ..04 (04) RJ Burns st Mohammad Rizwan b Delray Rawlins ..05 (08) CJ Jordan Run Out ..05 (04) AAP Atkinson c Mohammad Rizwan b Bopara ..01 (03) C McKerr c Ward b Mills ..02 (06) DJ Worrall Not Out ..05 (07) DT Moriarty Run Out ..11 Extras (6lb-5w) 155 Total All Out after 18.2 overs
