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Selwood shows his strength to sink Surrey

Surrey 19 Derbyshire 193-6 Derbyshire win by four wickets

David Llewellyn
Monday 19 August 2002 00:00 BST
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Derbyshire dented an off-colour Surrey's hopes of promotion to the Norwich Union League First Division and, in the process, hauled themselves up the table, thanks to a cracking half-century by Steven Selwood.

The 22-year-old left-hander displayed remarkable maturity as he compiled his second fifty in a competition in which he has played just a dozen innings since making his debut last season.

Perhaps it was the clash of coloured clothing that put Surrey out of kilter ­ the teams wore a near-identical shade of blue ­ but the third-placed side could not winkle out Selwood. Stephen Stubbings and Dominic Cork had proved less resilient, each falling after working hard to establish themselves.

But Selwood showed them the way, with a little help from Jason Kerr, who made Surrey pay dearly for missing him when he was barely into his stride, Adam Hollioake failing to hang on to an awkward chance at slip off the bowling of Ian Salisbury, who has just become a father.

Kerr and Selwood then knocked off a further 61 runs for the sixth wicket. Sadly, Selwood was not able to hang around long enough to celebrate victory out in the middle. Having reached his fifty off the 59th ball he had faced ­ a free hit off Martin Bicknell for a single ­ he fell next ball, caught at short extra cover by Salisbury, with two runs needed. Kerr did the honours, driving Hollioake over mid-on for the winning boundary.

The start of the Surrey innings would have tested a speed camera as Ian Ward and Alistair Brown launched themselves into the Derbyshire attack, scoring at nine an over for the first five. Kevin Dean bore the brunt of the ferocious assault, retiring from the fray after conceding 34 runs in his first two overs.

Brown had clobbered him for three consecutive boundaries, but Ward went two better, smashing five on the trot off the luckless left-arm paceman. But, as suddenly as it had begun, so the run-storm was over.

Cork, the Derbyshire captain, who had escaped the fiercest of the blows being rained on his side by the Surrey pair, had Brown leg before wicket after the batsman had cracked 19 off 15 balls.

Ward was joined by Mark Ramprakash and they maintained a run rate of 6.5 per over, before Ward was strangled down the leg side to become Cork's second victim.

Thereafter the innings petered out, although Ramprakash passed fifty in the competition for the fourth time in five National League outings.

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