The Cricketer looks at the main talking points from the T20 Blast clash between Surrey and Glamorgan at the Kia Oval
Spencer Johnson went wicketless in the powerplay that ultimately cost Glamorgan a Friday-night defeat in south London, but there was no doubting that the big Australian set the tone at the Kia Oval.
Glamorgan were 9 for 2 after three overs, having won the toss and opted to bat, with Johnson's second over a maiden and Gus Atkinson's opening set accounting for both Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson.
He returned for a third over to have Ben Kellaway caught in the deep, and Glamorgan were 57 for 5.
Johnson only has nine Blast wickets for Surrey, but he has a tournament economy rate of 6.51, and his signing – after a deal for Aaron Hardie was withdrawn – has been an inspired piece of business.
Until a week ago, Dom Sibley hadn't made a T20 appearance for Surrey since, in 2017, being sandwiched in the middle of a batting lineup featuring Kevin Pietersen, Aaron Finch, Kumar Sangakkara and Jason Roy. And as he became more entrenched in defence as a Test opener, public perception christened him a red-ball specialist.
But one enormous straight six and a sumptuous extra cover drive as part of a 53-run opening stand with Dan Lawrence might just have gone some way to proving his point; it was said at the time of his return to Surrey that he wanted to push for more white-ball cricket, having struggled to get into Birmingham Bears' side.
He will have more taxing run-chases along the way than tonight's, as Laurie Evans in particular made mincemeat of a target that was woefully under par. Evans finished unbeaten on 31 off 13 balls, with Sibley 44 not out in 26.
Laurie Evans whacked a quickfire 31 for Surrey (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
This was the final leg of this set of T20 Blast games, before the County Championship takes over for back-to-back rounds.
For Glamorgan, it meant a Thursday-night home defeat by Gloucestershire, followed by a Friday-morning trek into London, followed by a Friday-night shlep back to Cardiff ahead of a four-day game starting in Wales on Sunday morning.
There is little doubt that the schedule, with its various nuances and stakeholders, is an impossible labyrinth, but surely it has to be better spread out than this.
Glamorgan will arrive home in the early hours, unlikely to get much genuinely restorative sleep and then, less than 24 hours later, be back in action against the red ball.
Surrey, also coming into this game on the back of another the night before, were at least only down the road at Lord's on Thursday. If matches on successive days are a necessity, they ought to be better arranged than this.
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