Sussex 176-7 (20 overs)
Surrey 177-2 (17.2 overs)
Surrey beat Sussex by 8 wickets
Jason Roy’s fifth T20 century for Surrey kept them in the hunt for the knockout stages of the Vitality Blast as they eased to an eight-wicket win over Sussex at the Kia Oval.
Sixteen years after his first T20 hundred for the county, Roy – who is 36 later this month – showed his enduring class in this format with an unbeaten 103 off 58 balls and he passed 11,00 domestic T20 runs in the process.
Chasing 177, Roy and Josh Philippe broke the back of the chase with a second-wicket stand of 78 before Roy and Dan Lawrence reached the finishing line with 16 deliveries to spare after adding 73 off just 38 balls.
One win from their final two games should secure second place in the south group because Surrey have a much better run rate than third-placed Essex.
But they will be anxious to have the best record of the three teams finishing second to secure home advantage in the quarter-finals.
Roy didn’t offer a chance, hitting eight sixes – three of them off the competition’s leading wicket-taker Danny Briggs – before driving Sean Hunt to the long off rope to secure victory with his sixth boundary.
Sussex, bottom of the south group with only two wins, were well placed at the halfway stage of their innings on 99-2 after being put in with George Thomas on his way to a career-best 57.
But once the former Somerset batter was caught on the cover boundary in the 11th over, they lost their way.
They were restricted to 42 between the 10th and 15th overs and, in the 16th, Charlie Tear, on his Sussex T20 debut, failed to score off the first five balls from Sean Abbott and was run out off the sixth.
James Coles, released from the England T20 squad, made an unbeaten 42 but despite coming in during the ninth over he only faced 29 deliveries and on a good pitch Sussex’s 176-7 looked at least 20 short.
Thomas came in after Sussex’s leading run scorer Dan Hughes nibbled at Tom Lawes’s outswinger in the second over and went for his shots from the start to dominate a second-wicket stand of 75 from 42 balls with Harrison Ward (28).
Chris Jordan took 2-23 and bowled superbly in the second half of the innings with the wickets of Tom Alsop and Tom Price taking him to 450 in T20s. At least Sussex batted their 20 overs – for only the fourth time in 10 games this season.
Hunt, one of four players facing their former club, had another – Laurie Evans – held on the mid-wicket boundary in the fourth over of the reply.
But when Hunt dropped Philippe at short fine leg with a single to his name it was to prove costly.
Hunt had revenge of sorts when Philippe (31) ended up giving Tear a catch behind off an attempted ramp.
But the second-wicket stand of 78 in eight overs gave Surrey a platform and the exemplary Roy made sure they didn’t squander it.
Roy said: “There’s no real reason but I’m feeling quite emotional – it’s been a while since my last T20 hundred.
“So to come out here in front of a near full house and help get us over the line was pretty good. I might not sleep much tonight but I’m sure when I wake up tomorrow, it’ll feel special.
“For an opening batsman in any format of the game to hit the winning runs with a few overs to spare was incredibly special. We’re in a really strong position even though we haven’t quite hit our straps which is pretty exciting for us.”
Sussex’s George Thomas said: “I really enjoyed it, getting my highest T20 score at the Oval in front of a big crowd. It was awesome.
“I was nervous so I was glad to get a couple away early on. Hitting the ball is the best way of getting confidence and I’m a momentum batter – when I’m putting the pressure back on the bowlers, I’m at my best.
“We were quite confident at halfway but it was a special knock by Jason Roy. Their chase was pretty much impeccable.”
