A blitzkrieg of boundaries by Colin Ingram (91) and Jacques Rudolph (62) who shared a record-breaking stand of 141 in 12 overs - the highest for any wicket by the Welsh county in the competition - saw Glamorgan to their highest-ever total in Twenty20 cricket as they made 240/3 after being put in to bat by Surrey in their opening match in the NatWest T20 Blast at The Kia Oval. Dean Cosker then took a career-best 4/30 as Surrey ended on 215 as Glamorgan won by 25 runs.
The thirteenth season of Twenty20 cricket began tonight at The Kia Oval with Surrey winning the toss and opting to bowl first in front of a crowd predicted to swell in excess of 10,000 on a sunny May evening in South London. Jacques Rudolph and Mark Wallace duly opened the batting for Glamorgan, looking to emulate their achievements last summer in the T20 contest at The Oval when a masterly half-century from Rudolph, plus an awesome closing over from Michael Hogan saw Glamorgan home by four runs as the Australian seam bowler stifled the home side's efforts in a gripping finale.
It was captain to captain in the opening over as Gareth Batty opened the bowling and conceded a couple of singles. Wallace then pulled Matt Dunn's first ball to the ropes at mid-wicket before lofting the fourth over the head of the cover fielder for a second boundary. But it also proved to be his last as next over he miscued a drive against Tom Curran into the hands of Wahab Riaz at mid-off.
Colin Ingram announced his arrival by firstly harpooning Dunn to mid-wicket for four, and two deliveries later to long-off. The next ball - a no-ball - saw Gareth Batty take a fine diving catch at mid-off before Ingram celebrated his reprieve by pulling the last ball of an eventful over for four. He then despatched Tom Curran high over mid-wicket and long-on for a pair of sixes from three balls as the Welsh county ended the powerplays on 53/1.
Rudolph then swept Zafar Ansari's first delivery for four before reverse-sweeping him for another boundary. The fireworks continued from Ingram's bat as he pulled Batty over square-leg for six before then sweeping him for four. Rudolph added another reverse-sweep for four against Ansari before hoisting Batty for six into the stands at mid-wicket as the 100 came up in the 10
th over,
A savage square-cut for four by Rudolph against Riaz added further to the boundary tally before a single for Ingram saw him complete a 29-ball fifty on his T20 debut for the Welsh county. Rudolph moved closer to his fifty with a lofted off-drive against Dunn before a cover drive for two brought up the century stand in 9.1 overs. A reverse-sweep for six against Ansari saw Rudolph reach 50 from 34 balls before a coruscating straight drive by Ingram nearly decapitated both bowler and umpire.
Rudolph reverse-scooped Ansari for another six before Ingram drilled Dunn to long-off and mid-wicket for sixes from successive balls but the inbtroduction of Aneesh Kapil ended the run-fest as Rudolph drilled the seamer to Sangakkara at short mid-wicket and departed for 62. Chris Cooke maintained the helter-skelter tempo with some well-placed blows before Ingram lofted Curran straight for six followed by a hook for four when Riaz returned for the last two overs at the Pavilion End. The Pakistani though had the last laugh as next ball he bowled Ingram for 91 from just 47 balls.
The boundaries continued as Cooke swept Batty for six and four in the space of four deliveries before Ben Wright also swept the spinner for four as the 200 came up in the penultimate over. An on-drive for six by Cooke against Riaz saw Glamorgan sprint past their previous highest in the competition -206/6 against Somerset at Taunton, 2006 - before Cooke pulled the Pakistani for another six followed by another audacious maximum over long-on. A flurry of further one's and two's in the final over, plus a six by Wright over extra cover saw Glamorgan end on 240/3 with Cooke having struck 46* from just 19 balls.
Surrey therefore needed to make the highest-ever total batting second in the competition's history, beating Sussex's 226/3 against Essex at Chelmsford in 2014 and the home supporters hoped that Jason Roy and Steve Davies - who shared a rapid opening stand in the recent Championship match against Leicestershire - could repeat their efforts from earlier in the week. But Roy miscued his second delivery and Cooke completed the skied catch at point. Davies responded by lofting Graham Wagg's first ball for six before also skewing a lusty drive and being dropped at cover by Wright
After blocking his first ball Sangakkara fiercely straight drove Wagg for four before a moment of high farce saw both batsmen at the same end and two underarm throws at the bowler's end miss the stumps with Davies stranded at the other end. Sangakkara found the ropes again as he straight drove Craig Meschede before the all-rounder was deposited into the OCS Stand for six by Davies.
Sangakkara then struck Wagg for three successive fours before hoisting Meschede for six and four. But the Sri Lankan then miscued his next ball and David Lloyd at short fine-leg completed the catch with Surrey on 58/2. Ten runs later the powerplays ended and spinners Dean Cosker and Andrew Salter entered the fray. Davies responded by lofting Salter over mid-wicket for six, whilst Kapil also flayed Cosker for a six in the same direction. The wily veteran then trapped Kapil l.b.w. next ball as Surrey slipped further to 97/3 as Gary Wilson joined Davies who brought up the hundred and his fifty - from 27 balls - by lofting Meschede straight for another six.
Davies then hit Cosker inside-out over extra cover but the evergreen spinner then bowled Davies with the next delivery as he attempted another lavish blow. Vikram Solanki departed l.b.w. to the next delivery as Surrey's descent continued to 114/5. Ansari responded by lofting Salter for six but Cosker struck again in his final over as Wilson miscued to point as the twirler finished with best-ever figures in the competition of 4/30.
Ansari nearly holed out at long-on as Hogan returned and he celebrated by bludgeoning the Australian for six over mid-wicket.
The target was 77 from the last 30 balls as Riaz drove Salter for six but he holed out at backward point next ball. Ansari then struck Salter for six before driving Wagg through extra cover for four to complete his fifty and with some scampered two's the target became 50 from 18 balls as Batty flat-batted Meschede for a straight six, before also spearing the ball into the hands of backward point, leaving 40 needed from the last two overs. It became even more difficult as Salter bowled Curran before Ansari drove the spinner straight for four leaving 31 from the final over from Hogan. Ansari glanced the first ball to the ropes at fine-leg but could only squirt a single off the next before Hogan bowled Dunn as Glamorgan completed a 25-run victory to extend their unbeaten record in this format at Surrey's headquarters.