Blake’s six sees off Surrey with ball to spare

Kent 260 for 9 (Blake 66*, Bell-Drummond 56, Meaker 3-47, Batty 3-48) beat Surrey 255 for 8 (Sangakkara 58) by one wicket Scorecard

Alex Blake let out a shout of triumph when hit the penultimate ball of the match for six to finish on a superb 66 not out and guide Kent to a thrilling one-wicket victory against Surrey at Beckenham in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Two runs were needed with two balls to go when James Tredwell ran himself out in a doomed attempt to pinch a single to get Blake back on strike, but the 26-year-old left-hander smashed a shortish ball from Tom Curran high over the extra cover boundary to take Kent past Surrey’s 50-over total of 255 for 8.

A fascinating game of ebb and flow, on a sluggish surface which made fluent stroke-making a tricky task, seemed Surrey’s when Kent slumped to 147 for 6 in the 32nd over. But Blake, coming in at No 8, then joined Kent captain Sam Northeast in a seventh wicket stand of 72 in 13 overs to revive the chase and make the home team favourites again.

Northeast had made a fine 47 from 66 balls when he toe-ended a short ball from Stuart Meaker to third man and when Matt Coles was bowled by Gareth Batty for a duck the match looked to be swinging back to Surrey at 226 for 8 in the 46th over.

Blake, however, held his nerve and found in Tredwell the perfect partner as singles were nudged amid the occasional boundary. In those closing overs Blake reached his fifty with a four brilliantly driven through cover off Tom Curran and then, in the 49th over, an off drive for four off Sam Curran.

With eight runs taken from the 47th over, ten from the 48th, and another eight from the 49th, it left Kent requiring just three to avenge last season’s Royal London quarter-final when Surrey defeated them by 17 runs on Duckworth-Lewis at the Oval before going on to be beaten finalists.

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