Bopara’s 45-ball ton helps Northants stun Surrey

The Kia Oval, The Vitality Blast quarter-final

Northants 154-4 (14 overs): Bopara 105*, Clark 3-13

Surrey 147-6 (14 overs): S Curran 69*, Pope 41, Scrimshaw 3-34

Northants won by seven runs, with the match being reduced to 14 overs per side.

In a rain-shortened T20 Blast quarter-final at The Oval, Ravi Bopara resurrects the past with a stunning 45-ball century as Northamptonshire defeated Surrey by seven runs.

After the opener Ricardo Vasconcelos was dismissed first-ball and led Northants’ recovery from 1-2 to 154-4, the 40-year-old Bopara, a former England all-rounder, came in at number three.

Bopara reached his third T20 century with a boundary kick off the final ball of the innings, ending 105 not out of 46 balls, with 12 fours and five sixes.

Surrey maintained the required run-rate for protracted chase periods, but they also frequently lost wickets.

Northants will participate in Finals Day on September 13 for the first time since 2016, the year they most recently won the contest.

Surrey missed out on a third consecutive Finals Day appearance at Edgbaston despite winning 11 of their 14 matches and finishing top of the South Group. Their quest continues.

A delay of one hour and 20 minutes was caused by persistent rain earlier on Wednesday, which had reduced the number of overs per side by six.

Bopara has played in every year since the 2003 debut of England’s domestic T20 tournament, and with his 221 innings in total, it is impossible to imagine that he has ever had a better batting display.

In Jordan Clark’s first start, Northants, who had contributed to three of the four group goals, quickly grouped, lost Vasconcelos and captain David Willey for ducks.

Surrey’s bowlers, who were split up by Clark and Chris Jordan (11-22), felt Bopara’s full force. Curran and his older brother Tom combined for five overs to score 74 runs, while England’s paceman Gus Atkinson scored 18 runs from his one over.

Northants were in a great position thanks to Bopara’s skill, but Surrey, with their batting line-up littered with internationals, were far from finished.

Ollie Pope, an England Test batsman, added 74 for the third wicket with his skipper before being dismissed by George Scrimshaw (3-34), who removed Dan Lawrence in the same over and then the dangerous Laurie Evans, who was also in the same over.

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