Dom Sibley and Sam Curran shared a 95-run partnership to lead Surrey to a five-wicket victory over Durham at The Kia Oval and become the first team through to the Vitality Blast finals day.
Sibley (67) smashed six boundaries and two sixes during his 48-ball outing before he was bowled by Durham’s slow left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson (2-41), while Curran (52) added two boundaries and four sixes to help the hosts chase down the target of 163 with 12 balls to spare.
Durham, having been asked to bat first, had recovered from 69-6 to post 162-8 thanks to Michael Jones’ 37 and Bas de Leede’s 24 while Raine hit a brilliant 23 from just eight deliveries.
But they were unable to deny Surrey in their quest to reach a second successive finals day as they look to win their first T20 title since 2003.
The hosts dominated early on as Dan Worrall (2-14) removed opener Graham Clark (0) for a duck with the fourth ball of the day after he spooned the ball to Chris Jordan at extra cover, while Reece Topley (2-20) bowled England team-mate Ollie Robinson (1) cheaply in the fourth over.
Worrall cleaned up opener Alex Lees (12) with a yorker and Brydon Carse (8), who struck his first ball over the ropes, edged Tom Curran (1-40) behind to become his solitary scalp.
Colin Ackerman (13) was run out by a brilliant direct hit from Curran and Ashton Turner (26) was caught at deep square off Topley to leave Durham 69-6 in the 13th over.
Jones and De Leede shared a 50-run stand in 30 balls to ignite Durham’s fightback before Sam Curran (1-24) bowled the latter off his pads.
Raine cleared the ropes twice in the final over to help take the visitors to a respectable total before he was run out by Jamie Overton.
In reply, Durham began well in the field with Carse (2-34) removing Will Jacks (8) and Laurie Evans (1) in quick succession while spinner Callum Parkinson (2-41) dismissed Rory Burns (10) to leave Surrey 53-3.
However, Sibley and Curran’s partnership took the game away from the visitors. Surrey only needed three runs when Curran was dismissed in the 18th over with Overton smashing a four off Raine to seal the deal.
The Vitality Blast final will take place at Edgbaston on Saturday 14 September, live on Sky Sports.
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Source : Sky Sports
