The Cricketer looks at the main talking points from the Men's T20 Blast match between Surrey and Essex at the Kia Oval
With the game reduced to just 12 overs per side after a huge downpour shortly before the match started, Surrey were tasked with making as many as they could.
They lost the toss but came out with good intent, striking eight sixes in their rain-shortened effort with the bat.
The hosts ended on an impressive 141 for 6, thanks to contributions from Will Jacks (20), captain Sam Curran (25 off 13) and an unbeaten 27 off 11 balls from Tom Curran.
But in an innings which, perhaps, perfectly encapsulated what is required in one of these innings, Laurie Evans made an entertaining 18 off just five balls.
That included two sixes and a four off Luc Benkenstein, meaning his only non-boundary balls were a two to get off the mark and the wicket ball.
His boundary barrage brought up Surrey's 100 in the ninth over and played a major part in getting them to a competitive score.
Related: Essex defy Surrey's overseas spin duo to snap winless start
Laurie Evans enjoyed himself during an enterprising five-ball knock (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images for Surrey CCC)
In response, however, Essex were propelled to victory by their brutal opening partnership.
Michael Pepper and Paul Walter, who are great friends off the pitch, threw caution to the wind as they compiled a 64-run alliance in just 4.3 overs. This included a remarkable 17-ball fifty stand between the pair.
They took 17 runs off Reece Topley's opening over, 18 off the next, delivered by Tom Curran, and 15 runs off Mitchell Santner's opening set.
The stand was broken when Pepper was trapped lbw on the sweep for 36 off 15 balls by Adam Zampa but had broken the back of Essex's pursuit and rendered the required run rate manageable.
The visitors were grateful to Walter for turning his brilliant start into something more substantial as he continued to attack and brought up his half-century off 20 balls when a shot into the deep split out of Sam Curran's hands and into the boundary rope.
Curran made amends to have the left-hander caught behind for 55, but the damage was done as Essex survived a scare to win the match off the last ball.
It was a remarkable effort from the ground staff to clean up after such heavy rain (Getty Images)
With the toss completed and warm-ups all but done, the Kia Oval was subject to an incredible downpour.
For 10 straight minutes, the rain hammered down on the ground as the groundstaff, who had, to their credit, predicted the downpour, fought to get the rest of the covers on the field of play.
The rain was so heavy that rainwater began to flow down the seats onto the outfield, creating huge puddles of standing water.
And then, as if to sum up the classic British weather, the sun appeared and it became a beautiful start to the evening. The covers were almost immediately removed, but the clean-up job was significant, so there was a large delay to the inspection, let alone the restart.
Eventually, the crowd were treated to a 12-over per side match, thanks almost entirely to the hard work of head groundsman Lee Fortis and his team.
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