Oval Talking Points: A tale of two powerplays and wickets galore

The Cricketer picks out some important talking points as Surrey claim a 37-run win over Gloucestershire in the T20 Blast

'Moment That Inspires' play of the day

Surrey only made 129 in the end, but when Jason Roy and Will Jacks reached 60 without loss inside five overs, it looked like a target in excess of 200 was on the cards, even with just 16 overs per side following late-afternoon rain at the Kia Oval.

Roy was cleaned up by Tom Smith's third ball, which brought to the crease Sam Curran – a surprise move given a batting order long enough to accommodate Jamie Smith at No.9.

But Curran, picked in an England squad today – for the Netherlands ODIs next month – for the first time since his winter back trouble, made his intentions clear from the off.

Countering Smith's left-arm spin, he whacked the first ball he faced over long-on for six in an attempt to maintain Surrey's early dominance.

Ultimately, he chipped his next ball to Miles Hammond on the long-on rope to end the mini-battle.

But it was the bolshiness to take on his very first delivery like that – a clear match-up preference for Surrey, with Curran already having taken down Jack Leach in similar fashion when Surrey met Somerset in the County Championship earlier this season.

^{Jason Roy started in hard-hitting fashion (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)}

Leadership That Inspires

It was a brave move from Jack Taylor, with Jason Roy and Will Jacks in brutal touch early on, to turn to Tom Smith for the fourth over. Naseem Shah, David Payne and Paul van Meekeren had all been taken down, the outfield was lush, the ball was new and the powerplay was still in operation.

But Smith is a wily character; his first ball was nudged into the legside as Roy looked to judge the spin on offer, before his second delivery was whacked at mid-off for no run. The third skidded through the defences of the England opener and he was on his way; for Gloucestershire, a much-needed breakthrough.

The next ball – as above – was sent miles by Sam Curran, but Smith is the sixth-highest wicket-taker of all time in this competition, so was never likely to lose his bottle. The next ball tempted Curran to go again – he did, but only found long-on.

Surrey's hitters fall flat

It's hard to know quite how it happened, but Surrey only just managed to double their opening partnership. From 60 without loss, the hosts were bowled out for 129 in just 15 overs.

It felt like a night where Surrey knew how strong they were so kept on swinging in the expectation that someone further down the order would get in. Only, once Roy (28) and Jacks (51) departed, so did everyone else: none of Curran, Laurie Evans, Jamie Overton, Sunil Narine, Chris Jordan, Jamie Smith nor Reece Topley passed six.

Only Kieron Pollard reached double figures beyond the opening pair, and even the former West Indies captain was tied down, clubbing a full toss to long-on for 14 at slower than a run a ball.

^{A wet afternoon gave way to a clear evening in south London (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)}

Gloucestershire's sorry start…

Having dug themselves out so impressively when a big chase looked on the cards, Dale Benkenstein's men would have been desperately disappointed with their own powerplay. James Bracey, Miles Hammond, Glenn Phillips and Ian Cockbain all went cheaply as a game that had promised so many runs suddenly looked to have come to an abrupt halt.

From Roy's dismissal, 161 runs were scored in the match for the fall of 20 wickets – an astonishing turnaround for a game that looked destined to thrill the supporters who had remained after the earlier rain.

Instead, it became a struggle on a used pitch – one suggestion was that the deluge, which was followed by a lighter shower just before the rescheduled start time, briefly allowed the ball to slide onto the bat, allowing for Surrey's rapid start, which included a pull shot from Jacks off David Payne that flew out of the ground.

Gloucestershire, despite Ryan Higgins' best efforts, fell well short.

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