Oval Talking Points: Tawanda Muyeye and Sam Curran impress with the bat

The Cricketer picks out some of the important talking points from Surrey's T20 Blast clash with Kent at the Kia Oval

Movement That Inspires play of the day

Laurie Evans may perhaps feel hard done by to not earn top billing in this category. With a bullet throw, he ran out Tawanda Muyeye in the eighth over, halting the opener – who was scoring at a strike rate in excess of 140 – before he could take the game beyond Surrey.

However, Jason Roy upstaged him in the field, taking a crucial catch to dismiss the dangerous Jordan Cox.

Cox was flying for Kent, scoring 54 runs off just 31 balls and picking off boundaries for fun, but at the start of the 14th over, he struck Jamie Overton into the hands of a diving Jason Roy.

The England international covered considerable ground to take the catch and ordered a back-pedalling Dan Moriarty to make way – something Overton and Sunil Narine should take note of after both stepping out of a catch earlier in the innings to hand Muyeye a lifeline.

And while Kent still added 70 runs off the remaining overs, given Darren Stevens (Cox’s replacement) scored a wasteful 13 runs from 14 balls, it was a fine piece of damage limitation.

^{Jason Roy made a telling contribution in the field [Ben Hoskins/Getty Images]}

Leadership That Inspires

Sticking with Roy, the England and Surrey opener was on fire at the Kia Oval, taking just 19 minutes and 23 balls to rattle off a half-century. Four fours and five sixes flew from his bat while Will Jacks, something of a fire cracker with the bat himself, was a spectator at the other end.

With Surrey 65 for 0 at the end of the powerplay and Roy blasting three sixes and one four off the sixth over, Jack Leaning faced a tricky decision – who among his bowlers could blunt Roy’s batting?

He opted for Qais Ahmad and in the words of the Grail Knight from Indiana Jones, "You have chosen wisely." Dot, four, bowled. Roy departed for 58 from 27 balls and Surrey’s assault was, albeit temporarily, halted.

And Qais was the pick of Kent’s bowlers for the remainder of the match, taking 3 for 28 from four overs - Fred Klaassen (0 for 16) was the only other player to concede fewer than 10 runs per over.

^{Qais Ahmad [Alex Pantling/Getty Images]}

Tawanda Muyeye offers a glimpse of his white-ball potential

Tawanda Muyeye has a lot of pressure on his young shoulders. He was named Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year in 2020 and has had eyes on him since making his debut for Kent in 2021. He is, apparently, the next big thing. And while he hasn’t always looked comfortable with that pressure in his short career, he certainly did his reputation no harm at the Kia Oval.

Playing in just his fifth T20 match for Kent and with a high score of 11 from his previous outings, he smashed 41 runs from 29 balls, including five fours and two sixes, to get the Spitfires off to a flyer.

He was, as mentioned above, handed a lifeline, Narine and a charging Overton failing to communicate over what would have been a routine catch for the West Indian, but that aside, from the moment he dispatched Aaron Hardie for a six in the second over, he was a shoo-in for a half-century.

Unfortunately, he lost his composure in the 40s and in his desperation to retain the strike, he took on Evans’ arm and came off second best – he was scarcely in the frame as the bails became airborne.

But it was a confidence-building knock for the youngster, who had passed 12 just three times in his past 10 innings (1st and 2nd XI), and a glimpse of his potential against the white ball.

^{Tawanda Muyeye [Harry Trump/Getty Images]}

Sam Curran shines in his pinch-hitter role

Surrey have no shortage of explosive batters, with Roy and Jacks at the top of the order, Evans and Australian Hardie backing them up, Chris Jordan the finisher and Narine, Overton and Sam Curran all competing to be sent in first to smack a few.

Curran fought off both Overton and Narine to come in at No.3 and after a slow start – he scored just 10 runs off his first 13 deliveries – he burst into life with five sixes from his next 17 balls. And while he holed out to Leaning while attempting to hit the winning runs, his contribution was ultimately the match-winning knock.

He now has 236 runs to his name – a haul only Jacks and Roy can better and also his highest in a T20 Blast season – and a healthy strike rate of 146.58. He’s been restricted to just 15.3 overs with the ball, Jordan possibly opting to ease the allrounder back from a stress fracture, but has stepped up, and then some, with the bat.

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