After a rain-day in England on opening day, Sussex and Surrey face off each other in the South Group fixture of T20 Blast 2020 in the first Friday fixture.
Team Preview
Sussex is amongst the favourites to lift the T20 Blast title. Under the skipper Luke Wright, Sussex aims to go beyond the quarterfinal which was their final stage at last season. They have a strong batting unit and also signed up Essex’s star performer Ravi Bopara in the side. With top run-getter of Blast, Luke Wright, and the top-performer Evans would be a big threat to the oppositions. In the middle-order, they have Phil Salt and David Wiese who are the good prospects with the bat. They will surely miss Rashid Khan in the unit and Chris Jordan is busy with the England duty. Reece Topley left for Surrey over the winter. The bowling unit is pretty weak for Sharks ahead of the tournament and it would be interesting to know that how they win matches with the batting only.
Meanwhile, Surrey got Reece Topley from Sussex this winter and they aim to enter into the knock out stage after finishing 8th in South-Division. Surrey has the better bowling options. England has also released Sam Curran and Liam Plunkett who will lead Surrey’s pace attack along with South African star Morne Morkel who has recently joined the side. Jason Roy who was supposed to join England is also out due to the injury. They also have two big blows in top-order in the names of Hashim Amla and Aaron Finch. Last season’s top wicket-takers Imran Tahir and Tom Curran are also not available due to the CPL and England duty. Sussex-Surrey tie would be a batting versus bowling fixture as Sussex is weak with the bowling and Surrey is struggling with batting.
Pitch Report
County Ground, Hove will host the match between Sussex and Surrey. The last Blast game between these two sides ended in a tie on this track. The surface is a pure batting track and if batsmen avoid the first blows with the new ball, it will offer a good amount of runs. The rain can interrupt the game as the slight rainfall is predicted in Hove.
Possible XI
Sussex
Luke Wright, Phil Salt, Laurie Evans, Delray Rawlins, Ravi Bopara, Ben Brown, David Wiese, Danny Briggs, Ollie Robinson, Will Beer, Tymal Mills
Surrey
Will Jacks, Mark Stoneman, Sam Curran, Rikki Clarke, Jordan Clark, Jamie Smith, Liam Plunkett, Jade Dernbach, Reece Topley, Morne Morkel, Amar Virdi
Key Players
Sussex
Phillip Salt
Last season – M: 14, Runs: 406, Avg: 36.90
Ravi Bopara
Last season – M: 12, Runs: 298, Avg: 48.50, Wickets: 12
Surrey
Reece Topley
Last season – M: 11, Wickets: 17, Avg: 17.94
Sam Curran
An all-rounder, effective in death-bowling
