By Huzaifa Yousafzai
On Tuesday night, Surrey will host Durham at the Kia Oval in the first quarter-final of the 2024 Vitality T20 Blast with the home side aiming to reach back-to-back Final’s Days.
The two teams will clash for the first time in T20 Blast history with the last white ball encounter between these sides occurring in 2022, where Surrey won by nine wickets in a One-Day-Cup match.
Route to the Knockouts
Surrey dominated the group stages as they qualified by topping the south group and losing only three times in 14 games. As a result, they finished on 20 points and two points clear of Sussex thus reaching their third consecutive knockout appearance.
Despite reaching the Final’s Day seven times, Surrey have failed to claim a second title since winning the tournament in the inaugural season way back in 2003. A strong victory over Durham could potentially kickstart a run that ends their 21-years trophy drought in the Blast.
Durham on the other hand, barely made it into the playoffs finishing fourth and just one point above Leicestershire. They won only half their games with seven victories out of 14 matches.
Notably, this is Durham’s first knockout appearance since 2018, where they lost the home quarter-final to Sussex as current Surrey player Laurie Evans claimed player of the match scoring 63 not out.
Durham have only reached the final once when they lost to Northamptonshire in 2016 and a shock victory over Surrey tomorrow night, will propel them to only their second ever Final’s Day.
Squad and Team Selections
Surrey are clear favourites going into this game having dominated the group stages as well as possessing the strongest squad in the country. Their countless number of white-ball specialists as well as several players currently in England camps makes predicting a final XI very tricky.
Their depth is clear to see as Laurie Evans and Jordan Clark are the only two players who have played more than ten games with Surrey having used an absurd 25 players throughout the competition.
Durham will happily fly under the radar as underdogs with the return of Brydon Carse adding a bit of extra quality. They have a much more consistent team than Surrey’s with 6 players completing all 14 group games.
Players to Watch
Surrey’s key player is undoubtedly the English all-rounder Sam Curran with the left-hander able to single-handedly win games of cricket. Despite only playing four T20 Blast games this season, he is coming off the back of being Player of the Tournament in The Hundred and looks set to finish the season well.
As for Durham, Nathan Sowter has been the standout player with 19 wickets at 15 apiece whilst going at just 6.35 runs per over, the second best in the competition behind Richard Gleeson.
