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The two Shanes – Warne and Watson – are likely to play a significant role for Australia when one-day international cricket returns to Melbourne’s Colonial Stadium next month.After the national selection panel’s decision to cut Ian Harvey and Nathan Hauritz from the line-up, Warne remained the only spinner included in the 13-man party named today for the three-match series against Pakistan. Watson, meanwhile, represents the sole all-rounder in the squad.Along with pace quartet Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Andy Bichel, both players are now expected to perform major roles at the bowling crease throughout the series.”It’s great to be given another opportunity to play for Australia,” said Watson, 20, who made his international debut as part of a total of four matches in South Africa last month.”I learnt so much from the last tour and I’ve been continuing to work really hard to try and develop my game to be able to play well at international level.”Being able to play for Australia is exciting in itself but the chance to play games at home is even more of a thrill, definitely.”Obviously, there’s an exciting opportunity there for me now but there’s also a lot of hard work in front of me too to try and secure the all-rounder’s spot.”Australia’s selectors have flirted with Harvey, Shane Lee and Andrew Symonds in the all-rounder’s position for the last three years but none has genuinely made the spot his own. The optimism about his future that is reflected in Watson’s selection for this series is unmistakable.Aside from the omissions of Harvey and Hauritz, the selectors have otherwise opted to retain faith in the new-look squad that enjoyed a crushing 5-1 win in the recent series in South Africa.Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist retain their leadership roles, and batsmen Matthew Hayden, Darren Lehmann and Jimmy Maher have all been re-included after being recalled to the team and indulging in excellent individual campaigns in South Africa.The first two games in the three-match series against Pakistan will be contested at Colonial on 12 and 15 June respectively, before the players head north to the ‘Gabba ground in Brisbane for the third and final encounter – on 19 June.Pakistan’s squad is likely to be finalised by the end of this month.The full Australian squad is: Ricky Ponting (c), Adam Gilchrist (v-c), Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Shane Watson.

ScorecardOwais Shah was in fine form as Essex turned a first-innings deficit into a sizeable lead•PA Photos

A commonplace remark was made after Andrew Strauss announced his retirement last week. It was that Owais Shah, when a young cricketer making his way alongside Strauss with Middlesex, was the better prospect.If coaches and colleagues speculated which of the two might play in 100 Test matches, they settled on the right-hander with an array of shots not seen since Mark Ramprakash was attracting similar notices.Strauss has had the stellar career, but at least Shah is still playing. His has been a mixed and wet summer, but that has been the case with so many batsmen. A century against Glamorgan, one half-century and a string of twenties and thirties until he came out to bat here with Essex still in arrears as a result of insufficient runs in their first innings. A second, unbeaten century was the upshot, one brimming with fluent drives in easier conditions than on the first day.How Essex required this contribution, even if they had done markedly well to restrict Hampshire to a first-innings lead of only 49, taking their remaining six wickets in the morning for just 64 runs. When Tom Westley was held at second slip, playing away from his body at David Balcombe, Shah’s side were in need of a long partnership. He and Jaik Mickleburgh provided one.They put on 193 in 60 overs for the second wicket. Why Shah has not achieved more is a judgement best left to the likes of Graham Gooch and Keith Fletcher. Suffice to say he is still a delight to watch. Having reached a half-century off 72 balls with ten fours, he struck Liam Dawson, who in the absence of Danny Briggs was given a supportive spin role to the medium pacers, straight for six and then, next ball, drove him along the ground to the long-on boundary. There were some low-slung pulls and the running between the wickets was eager.His century came up with his 18th four, driven past mid-off. Sean Ervine was the hapless bowler. At this point Shah had double Mickleburgh’s tally – 100 to 52 – but that was just as well. The situation required one of the batsmen to accumulate, or, if nothing else, simply to stay in. Too many Essex wickets have fallen too cheaply in this match and plenty more runs will be required on the third day. Mickleburgh was finally caught at slip off Simon Katich’s underused unorthodox left-arm spin, having made 73 off 206 balls with ten fours.What to make of the pitch? As with most cut by Nigel Gray this season, it has played better after the first three or four sessions. At the outset, grass is left on for the benefit of the side winning the toss.Reece Topley, bowling from the pavilion end, took three wickets in quick succession upon resumption in the morning, having James Vince caught behind, Bilal Shafayat at gully without addition and Michael Bates leg-before aiming to mid-on.David Balcombe was leg-before to Maurice – pronounced with felicitation by John White, the tannoy announcer – Chambers; Ervine, having made 43, was held at deep square leg and Hampshire, all in all, had batted only a little less indifferently than Essex, at a time when they have to extend their splendid form in one-day cricket into the first-class game if they are to be promoted.

West Zone comfortably batted through the final day, stalling SouthZone’s hopes of forcing an outright result in their Duleep Trophyclash at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat on Sunday. NayanMongia, Vinod Kambli and Abhijit Kale all posted half centuries asWest finished their second innings at 330/6. South’s first inningslead of 219 gave them five points, taking their tally to eight fromtwo games, while West moved to nine from three games.West entered the final day at 64/1, needing another 155 to make Southbat again. In the course of an obdurate 60 off 187 balls, skipperMongia, who opened the innings, was involved in four successive fiftypartnerships, three of them on the final day. He added 50 for thesecond wicket with Hrishikesh Kanitkar, 54 for the third with JacobMartin and 53 for the fourth with Kambli. The latter was his usualbludgeoning self in carting 66 (65 balls, 11 fours, 2 sixes).Kale, for his part, made an enterprising 52 off 55 balls, inclusive ofnine boundaries. Wasim Jaffer and Sairaj Bahutule carried Norththrough to stumps. Of the eight South bowlers used, Sunil Joshiproduced the best figures of 3/62. South take on East next fromJanuary 25-28 at Agartala while West also square off against the sameopponents in their next and final encounter, at Rajkot from February1-4.

Water and Power Development Authority completed an emphatic 213-run victory over Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. WAPDA batted first, putting up a strong first innings total of 311, led by Aamer Sajjad (81) and Adnan Raees (68). Imran Khan was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 70, and was ably supported by Zafar Gohar’s 3 for 60. ZTBL’s reply was rather flat as they only scored 185, with Naved-ul-Hasan doing the most damage with 4 for 28. Only Yasir Hameed stood out with his score of 70.WAPDA then added 237 in their second innings, with Mohammad Ayub scoring 64. This created a target of 364 for ZTBL, and it was vital that the top order provided useful starts. However, this would not be the case as Sharjeel Khan and Imran Nazir were the only batsmen to hit fifties as ZTBL folded for just 150, with each of the WAPDA bowlers taking at least two wickets.The opening match between Faisalabad and Multan petered out to a draw in Faisalabad. Multan batted first and posted 427, with Usman Liaqat top-scoring with 176. Contributions from Waqar Hussain (51) and Kashif Naved (64) did not go amiss, while Adnan Munir was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 101. In reply, Faisalabad put up an impressive 475, courtesy lower-order centuries from Zeeshan Butt (102) and Fahim Ashraf (116). Both Shahbaz Hussain and Asif Fawad took four wickets a piece, as Faisalabad held a slight lead of 48 runs. Multan batted well again in their second innings, with Ahmed Rasheed making 99, while Mohammad Imran finished unbeaten on 51, as the teams held for a draw.State Bank of Pakistan completed a 133-run victory over Habib Bank Limited in Islamabad. After opting to bat, SBP put on 226, thanks largely to fifties from Raheel Majeed and Usman Saeed. Ehsan Adil and Sarmad Anwar were the pick of the Habib Bank bowlers, taking 5 for 53 and 3 for 37 respectively. Habib Bank matched SBP’s first innings score with key contributions from Hasan Raza (45), Rameez Aziz (43) and Adil (40). Saad Altaf took a five-for as things remained even-stevens.SBP put on a sizable 293 in their second innings, with Rizwan Haider’s 60 the top score. Sarmad took 4 for 80 and was ably supported by Mohammad Aslam’s 3 for 50. With 294 to chase, Habib Bank looked in trouble as they lost both their openers for just 8 runs. The middle order simply did not capitalise on their starts as Tabish Khan ran through the line-up to finish with 5 for 67. Mohammad Naved also chipped in by taking 3 for 46 as Habib Bank was dismissed for 160.National Bank of Pakistan kicked off their President’s Trophy campaign with a seven-wicket win over Pakistan International Airlines in Sialkot. After being put into bat, PIA posted just 135 in their first innings as Hammad Azam and Zia-ul-Haq ran through the order, picking up four and three wickets respectively.Despite losing opener Anwaar Hafeez inside the first over, Sami Aslam (109) and Kamran Akmal (53) ensured NBP did not make the same mistakes as they scored 278. Shoaib Malik was the pick of the PIA bowlers with 5 for 78. Facing a 143-run deficit, PIA did their best to run up a big total, but faltered as NBP’s bowlers, led by Adnan Rasool’s 4 for 64, restricted them to 218 in the second innings. Only Malik and No. 9 Rafaiy Safdar posted fifties in the second innings for PIA. With just 76 to chase, NBP did the needful in just under 19 overs.Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited began their title defence with a five-run win over Port Qasim Authority in Rawalpindi. SNGPL opted to bat first, but lost wickets at regular intervals and were restricted to 178 by PQA’s bowlers, led by Abdur Rauf’s 5 for 52. PQA’s openers put on 34 but the rest of their batsmen struggled to make meaningful contributions. Medium pacer Imran Ali led SNGPL’s charge, taking 8 for 42 as PQA were skittled for 132. With a slight lead of 46 runs, it was imperative SNGPL put on a strong total to build a sizeable lead.However, the PQA bowlers reduced SNGPL to 33 for 4 early on, with each of the bowlers chipping in. Only Ali Waqas and Khurram Shehzad posted over 30 runs, as Mohammad Talha and Mohammad Sami picked up 4 for 26 and 3 for 26 respectively to dismiss SNGPL for 110. Chasing 157, Imran Ali’s 5 for 55 tore through the top and middle order but PQA were still in sight of victory at 138 for 8, needing another 19 runs, but Sohail Khan’s wicket on 151 meant they fell just short of the target.Khan Research Laboratories beat Pakistan Television by six wickets to register an opening win in the competition. Pakistan Television batted first and only put on 125, with Sadaf Hussain (5 for 36) doing most damage, ably supported by Yasir Arafat’s 3 for 57. In reply, KRL put on 159, boosted by No. 10 Umaid Asif’s counterattacking 47 off 57 balls. Rizwan Akbar starred with the ball for PTV, taking 5 for 47, and Waqar Ahmed chipped in with 3 for 40.Imran Ali and Haroon Ahmed put on a better show in the second innings for PTV, adding 91 for the first wicket. But down the order, apart from Rizwan Ahmed’s 74, the rest of the batting folded without much fight. PTV lost wickets in clusters at several points in the innings, with four wickets falling for just 10 runs towards the end. Facing a chase of 200 runs, KRL overhauled the target without too much trouble. Saeed Anwar jnr’s 74 and Usman Salahuddin’s unbeaten 62 helped KRL reach the total within 42 overs.

ScorecardFile Photo: Kraigg Brathwaite remained unbeaten on 104•BCCI

Kraigg Brathwaite went ahead and brought up the only hundred of the match on a final day when everybody just went through their motions. The match was called off at 3.30pm, the earliest it could have been, and the teams travelled to Hubli, waiting for a more interesting contest.There wasn’t even an outside chance of a result after 20 wickets had taken three days to fall on a slow and flat pitch. The only matter of interest left was to see how Zaheer Khan would bowl. He tested the batsmen with some short-pitched bowling, but had only a wicket to show for his eight overs bowled on the final day to take his innings figures to 13-4-27-1.Zaheer began the day with a concentrated short-ball barrage at Kieran Powell. The pitch didn’t offer much bounce, but Zaheer’s accuracy meant he hit the batsman on the forearm twice, and made him fend too. Powell managed to punch him for a four, but was eventually caught on the back foot when Zaheer bowled one full and outside off. The edge was taken, Zaheer’s plan had worked, but that was the last success he got in his first first-class match of the year.One of the few players who would have come out happy for this match was West Indies A captain Kirk Edwards. Not because of his scores, but because during the match he received the news he has been picked for the Tests against India. He last represented West Indies in May 2012. Although he believed he shouldn’t have been here in order to make the comeback. Before the start of the match, when asked if this tour could help him force his way back, he said he was hoping he wouldn’t have to play the A tour to return to the national squad.Back in the side now, Edwards is “grateful”, but not content. “It feels good to be back to international cricket,” he said, “but having said that, I am in the squad and not in the XI. I am not guaranteed to play. But it is a step closer to where I want to be so I am grateful.”Edwards did go on to suggest he was not entirely happy with being out of the side. “I can’t say I was confident of making the team because I have seen worse things happen to me over the last couple of years,” he said. “I never count my chickens before they are hatched.”I was frustrated at the beginning but you have to face the reality,” he added. “Instead of thinking about things not happening for you, it is best to think about what is happening for you. You need a positive mindset. You need to be confident that whatever you set out to do, nobody can stop you from doing.”Edwards prescribed similar attitude to others who might think they have been hard done with. “Sorry, my heart is a bit cold about feeling bad for people because it is just cricket,” he said. “Sometimes the guys who really don’t have to do much and they get picked. Then there are guys who really have to work hard and get picked. I have observed that over a period of time. I have no feelings for people who – I don’t want to say I don’t have feelings for them – but whoever is hard done needs to suck it up, and go and work extra hard and get back instead of sting around and moping about the situation.”Was it hard to tell himself the same when “worse things” were happening to him? “Not very hard because that’s how I am,” Edwards said. “Just a tough life, buddy. You just have to face it. Simple.”

ScorecardAttacking shots were hard-earned, but Steven Mullaney helped put Nottinghamshire in a strong position•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire have one of the most attractive batting line-ups in the county game. Seldom can they have been as becalmed as this. A mantra of “safety first” may not be inspiring – it was under this slogan that the Conservatives lost the 1929 election – but there was no denying its effectiveness at Lord’s.Nottinghamshire have already put themselves into a position from which they should not lose this game, especially taking into account the disagreeable weather forecast. Even a draw would put them on the brink of confirming their Division One status.After Middlesex won the toss and bowled, adhesiveness was needed to withstand a typically probing opening spell from Tim Murtagh. But his visions of inflicting the same damage on Nottinghamshire’s top order as he had on England’s eight days ago encountered a roadblock named Steven Mullaney.There is nothing glamorous about Mullaney’s batting, but he is assured playing the ball through the offside and leaves the ball well. It is a method that earned him a hundred at The Oval in July – his first game opening the batting for Nottinghamshire – and he needs only 12 more runs to add another London century.It could have been very different though. To the third ball of the day, Mullaney called a sharp single – and it looked rather too sharp as a direct hit dislodged the stumps. But he was given the benefit of the doubt, the ball went to the boundary and Mullaney was off the mark with a five.Mullaney was well-supported by Michael Lumb, who provided a reminder that he is capable of attritional batsmanship to go with the pyrotechnics England see in Twenty20s. Lumb had reached 54 until he fell top edging a sweep to Ollie Rayner’s offspin. Rayner did not enjoy a pitch offering the assistance of The Oval – when he ravaged Surrey’s batting with 15 wickets – but he bowled with impressive control once again. Based on a season’s Championship haul of 41 wickets at 21 apiece, Rayner must have a reasonable chance of an England Lions berth.Shorn of Steven Finn and Toby Roland-Jones – who is out for the rest of the season – Middlesex were a little disappointing in the field. James Harris went for 3.54 an over – expensive in the context of an overall run rate of 2.32 – seemingly trying to bowl too quickly and too short.Perhaps he looks at the admirable Murtagh, who had to go to Ireland to begin his international career, and senses that the England selectors do not look kindly upon a perceived lack of pace. The risk, of course, is that Harris loses the consistency that meant 11 counties sought his signature when he moved on from Glamorgan a year ago. An average of 40 this season suggests Harris has yet to get the balance quite right.As the evening descended into farce – the players went off for bad light, returned without discernible improvement and then went off for good 13 deliveries later – it was hard to avoid asking what Alex Hales made of it all. He is the top-ranked Twenty20 batsman in the world but no longer able to make Nottinghamshire’s Championship side after a wretched red-ball season: hardly what he would have envisaged when his county prevented him going to the IPL in April.Hales will soon have to make a decision: does he want to play Test cricket – something not beyond a 24-year-old of his talent, but which would take copious graft on the county circuit? The alternative is to maximise his Twenty20 skill, something that may be in England’s immediate interests given his integral role in that format. If Hales pursues the second path – and he is due to have a meeting with Nottinghamshire to discuss the matter after the season – the IPL will certainly have a place for his belligerence.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAhmed Shehzad made the highest Twenty20 score by a Pakistan batsman•AFP

Ahmed Shehzad established several records on way to plundering Zimbabwe for an unbeaten 98, which sealed a 2-0 sweep of the Twenty20 series for Pakistan. Shehzad bettered his best T20 international innings of 70, achieved in the previous game, to make the highest score in the format by a Pakistan batsman, going past Misbah-ul-Haq’s 87* against Bangladesh in Karachi in 2008. Heaving the ball repeatedly over the leg-side boundary to become the first from his country to hit six sixes in a T20 innings, Shehzad added 143 for the second wicket with Mohammad Hafeez, making it the highest T20 partnership by a Pakistan pair. The previous best was 142 for the first wicket between Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt against Bangladesh at Gros Islet in the 2010 World Twenty20.Shehzad’s innings was yet another example of how much damage top-order batsmen can cause in T20s, if they take a bit of time instead of throwing their bats at everything from the first ball. The first five that Shehzad played were all dots, from the offspinner Prosper Utseya. To the sixth, Shehzad charged out and lofted over long-on for six. This ability to come up with the big hit would define Shehzad’s innings. More than a third of the 64 deliveries he faced were dots, and he was on 11 off 18 at one stage, but the heave over midwicket was always around the corner.After Brendan Taylor again decided to chase, it was Nasir Jamshed who got Pakistan going with 23 off 17. He was put down at slip on 7 but soon mishit Shingi Masakadza for mid-off to take a running catch in the sixth over. That was to be it for Zimbabwe for the innings. Barring a couple of leading edges off Hafeez that did not carry, they didn’t really come close to taking another wicket. In Zimbabwe’s defence, whenever Shehzad and Hafeez mishit the ball, it never came close to carrying to the deep fielders.And their fast bowlers never got the yorkers right, sending down length deliveries and full tosses instead, which Pakistan put away with ease.Shehzad favoured the leg side overwhelmingly, 73 of his 98 coming in that region, including 10 of his 12 boundaries. Considering most of them were full-blooded swings across the line, the timing and placement he managed on the shots was commendable.Shehzad needed just 22 deliveries after reaching his fifty to come within two runs of a century. Three of those were dots off Brian Vitori in the 16th over. The other three were swung for boundaries down the ground. He entered the last over on 86 and powered Vitori over long-on first ball. The hundred within sight, a determined but tiring Shehzad laboured back for successive twos next. He wanted two off the fourth ball as well, but Hafeez was in no mood for gifting a run-out chance to Zimbabwe. Sensitive to his opener’s palpable desire, Hafeez pushed a single off the penultimate ball, but for once, Shehzad failed to pick a gap off the final one, trotting a single to deep midwicket.With Shehzad in such flow, Hafeez didn’t have to do much more than turn the strike over for most of the partnership, before finding the boundary a few times at the death. The Pakistan captain would have a much larger role with the ball, after resting first-choice bowlers Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Irfan. Anwar Ali was taken for three fours in his first over, and Zimbabwe were keeping up with the asking-rate at 44 for 0 after the first five. Then came the spinners, and Zimbabwe, again, had no answers.Zulfiqar Babar began with a maiden, and Hafeez with a wicket-maiden, as Vusi Sibanda holed out after successive slow starts. In his next over, Hafeez had Taylor gloving an attempted reverse-sweep. Hamilton Masakadza fought to make 41, but Hafeez had him pulling to deep midwicket in the 14th. Babar’s double-strike in the next over sent Zimbabwe plummeting further to 109 for 5. Elton Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller tried, but Shehzad had pulled so far in front that even an inexperienced attack wasn’t really pushed.

ScorecardSimon Kerrigan chipped out two quick wickets•Getty Images

Lancashire’s bowlers strengthened their grip on this contest during a day of injudicious batting. A loss of three top order wickets for only 13 runs in four and a half overs during the early afternoon and two more just before close hurt Leicestershire, who now have a job on to save this match should the weather not intervene over the next two days.The second day at Grace Road started with Lancashire losing lower order wickets at some rate to put the kibosh on their chances of reaching 400, something which seemed certain for the vast majority of their innings. In the grand scheme of things, it may not be an issue for them, but seamer Ollie Freckingham added the wickets of Gareth Cross, Glen Chapple and Simon Kerrigan to finish with 4 for 85.They actually lost their last four wickets for 13 to slip from 367 for 6 after a positive start to the day, led by Luke Procter’s fluent 67, had seen them pick up a fourth batting bonus point with some positive stroke play.Even though they lost Tom Smith to the second ball of the day from Matthew Hoggard, they picked up the 47 runs they needed to get to 350 within 10 overs.Cross and Chapple then both fell caught at short extra cover off Freckingham as the innings was wrapped up to leave Leicestershire with a tricky 25 minutes of batting before lunch, which they reached at 20 for 1 from seven overs. Greg Smith fell to Kyle Hogg after Michael Thornely had been dropped twice in two balls in the slips off Hogg and Chapple.Further drama came early in the afternoon session. Chapple and Smith, who extracted extra bounce from the Pavilion End, bowled 45 consecutive dots balls – including six maidens – from the second ball of the eleventh over as Thornely and Ned Eckersley were stuck on 33 for 1 and then 33 for 2 when the former edged Smith to Luis Reece at wide third slip.Eckersley thought he had broken the shackles by pulling Chapple over midwicket for four, but he and captain Matt Boyce were soon on their way to left-arm spinner Kerrigan in only his second over and his first of the session to leave the score at 46 for 4.The loss of Shiv Thakor, who justified his elevation up to No.4 with a determined 34 off 130 balls, was a huge blow as the score slipped to 127 for 6 in the last 10 minutes of play. He had shared a secure partnership of 65 inside 26 overs for the fifth wicket with Niall O’Brien, who posted 41 off 79 either side of an hour and a half’s break for rain.O’Brien will be furious with the manner of his dismissal – bowled off the inside edge as he aimed an expansive drive at Chapple from round the wicket – to leave the score at 111 for 5. There was only one slip of concentration from highly-rated Thakor, but it proved to be crucial.He was not distracted by the introduction of a leg slip by Chapple when he had the ball in his hand, and was only once tempted out of his shell when he edged Kerrigan to Ashwell Prince at slip. Hogg then added his second wicket, the seventh in all, by trapping Tom Wells lbw in the penultimate over of the day. Leicestershire, 253 behind, still need 104 to avoid the follow-on. It looks a long way away.

ScorecardScott Styris appeared to be taking Sussex to victory before falling to Jade Dernbach•Getty Images

It is one of the general maxims of Twenty20 that the team which hits the most sixes tends to win. When Scott Styris struck a ball from Azhar Mahmood that described a perfect parabola out towards long leg, Sussex had their third maximum of the night and their noses in front, 14 runs required from the final 12 balls.The next delivery Styris faced was from Jade Dernbach and uprooted two of his stumps. Dernbach’s over went for just two runs – and completed match-turning figures of 4-0-18-2 – as Sussex were left with too much to scramble off the last six balls. On the opening night of the tournament, Surrey had failed to defend exactly the same score of 139 for 6 against Hampshire; they have now won three games in a row and sit atop the South Group.This format has caused much angst for Surrey in recent times. They were one of the prime movers in next year’s shaking up of the T20 competition, their chief executive, Richard Gould, calling publically for a spread-out tournament on regular nights of the week. This was Surrey’s first home fixture of the 2013 FLt20 and, coupled with the first appearance of Ricky Ponting at The Oval – as Surrey player rather than pantomime villain – a decent crowd of 11,984 grazed happily throughout.Creating atmosphere in Test grounds, where the unfilled seats can be hard to disguise and the hubbub evaporates away rather than wrapping itself around the players, is one of the challenges for domestic T20 in England. Surrey do as good a job as any, though – The Oval is a half-full, rather than half-empty, kind of ground – and one fan became the first lucky recipient of £1000 for taking a ‘Kia catch’, when Dwayne Smith clubbed Zander de Bruyn into the stands.That over cost 22 but, Styris’ efforts apart, the Surrey bowlers succeeded in stifling Sussex in pursuit of a middling target for the second time in a week. On that evidence alone, it might be difficult to tell which of these two teams has been to Finals Day three times in the last six years and which has not got past the group stage since 2006.It is easy to spot a weakness in Surrey’s set-up, however. Steven Davies is the only batsman to score a half-century in four matches and their innings had an enervated, midweek feel to it; Thursday may be the new Friday in London but Wednesday is still the hump. Three of the top six picked out fielders on the fence with iron shots when a driver was needed and it wasn’t until the 15th over that Gary Wilson hit their first six, driving Will Beer emphatically over long-on.Wilson provided the vim Surrey needed, with reverse-sweeps, hard running and the odd Thor-like hammer blow, including another six off the final ball of the innings. Jason Roy was the only other Surrey player to get more than 13 and he flourished initially with several punishing cross-bat shots, as well as one thumping drive that knocked over the umpire, Trevor Jesty, who was hit on the shoulder. Jesty may be 65 but he waved away the stretcher before ambling to square leg for the next over and Surrey, in the end, weren’t left to rue the boundary that might have been.Of course, making a success of T20 financially is a lot easier if you’re making a success of it on the field. This match was really the appetiser for the London derby against Middlesex on Friday, when Surrey are hopeful of attracting a full house. Another last-ball finish – and another victory – will also be on the wish list.

ScorecardNathan Buck took two wickets on his return to action•Getty Images

Marcus North and Murray Goodwin hit half centuries as Glamorgan enjoyed the better of the first day’s play against Leicestershire in their LV= County Championship Division Two game at Grace Road.Put into bat on a damp, cloudy morning, Glamorgan reached 256 for 5 before bad light brought an early end to the day with 5.2 overs remaining. North scored 68 and Goodwin 57 to turn things round for Glamorgan after they slipped to 98 for 3. Nathan Buck and Ollie Freckingham both took two wickets for Leicestershire.With Ramnaresh Sarwan joining up with the West Indies squad for the Champions Trophy, Australian Joe Burns made his Leicestershire debut as his replacement, while Josh Cobb took over as captain.After bad light delayed the start by 30 minutes, Cobb won the toss and decided to field. He was rewarded with two early wickets both snapped up by Freckingham. He had William Bragg lbw for 5 in his third over of the morning and then, having seen Stewart Walters twice dropped in the slips, made it third time lucky with Michael Thornely clinging onto the catch.It was an impressive spell by Freckingham, but Ben Wright and North weathered the early difficulties to share a third wicket stand of 59. Both batsmen were quick to seize on anything loose and the boundaries began to flow. Wright hit seven fours in his 49, but then edged a catch behind off Buck, making his first appearance of the season after recovering from an ankle injury.But a partnership of 86 between North and Goodwin regained the initiative for Glamorgan. Goodwin was the first to his 50 which came off 56 balls and contained 10 boundaries and North soon followed, reaching his half century off 133 balls with nine fours.Buck finally made the breakthrough by trapping Goodwin lbw with the last ball before tea, and then Anthony Ireland, making his Leicestershire debut, had North caught at short extra cover off a loose drive for 68.Bad light sent the players off the field again and at 6pm, although they returned 25 minutes later, only four more balls were bowled before play was called off for the day., with Jim Allenby unbeaten on 39 and Mark Wallace 12 not out.Meanwhile, Matthew Hoggard enjoyed a prolific day for the 2nd XI by claiming 8 for 21 as he continues his comeback from the hip injury he picked up in the opening week of the season.