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Surrey will be up against Gloucestershire in a Group 2 fixture in this ongoing 2021 season of County Championship 2021. The Kennington Oval in London will be the venue for this encounter.
Surrey haven’t had the best of seasons so far and will be looking to turn things around. They didn’t have the best of starts as they suffered a couple of heavy defeats in two out of their first three games. The Rory Burns-led side did bounce back strongly as they thrashed Hampshire by an innings and 289 innings in their fourth fixture of this season. Their last three games were drawn encounters, and in two out of those three, rain washed out a major part of the game. Surrey ware currently fourth on the points table in Group 2 with 79 points.
On the other hand, Gloucestershire are sitting comfortably at the top of the points table. The Chris Dent-led team have recorded four wins from six matches and are yet to drop a game. Gloucestershire managed to chase down a total successfully in the fourth innings in each of their four wins. They have hunted down targets of 228, 153, 348 and 90. Meanwhile, in their other two games, they were put under pressure, but they managed to hold on to draws (their last game was rained off with Gloucestershire at 27/6).
Both sides will be without their top England international stars as they joined the England Test squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand. Surrey will be the ones who have been dented quite a bit. The likes of skipper Burns, Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes will not be available. In fact, the latter suffered a hamstring injury and has been ruled out. Meanwhile, Gloucestershire will miss the services of James Bracey for the same reason.
Moreover, Surrey will also miss the services of Kemar Roach, who has also flown back to the Caribbean. Sean Abbott replaces the West Indian fast bowler, and Hashim Amla has been named as the Surrey captain.
Key Players
Hashim Amla is going to be a massive player for Surrey, especially in the absence of three of their premier batters in the top seven. Amla has blown hot and cold throughout this 2021 season of the County Championship. He may have registered 404 runs at an average of 44.88, but most of those runs came in one innings when he smashed a stunning 215 not out against Hampshire. But apart from that, the South African has been inconsistent. He did look pretty solid in the last game but couldn’t convert his starts. But as skipper, Amla will be looking to lead from the front in this game.
Sean Abbott is all set to play his first game of this County season. The seam-bowling New South Wales all-rounder was in good form in domestic cricket over the Australian summer. He picked up 21 wickets and also contributed 570 runs at an average of 63.33, which included a maiden first-class ton and five half-centuries. Abbott has the ability to get the ball to nip around and can make some inroads early with the new ball, and the conditions might suit him as well. Hence, he may be a player to watch out for.
Ryan Higgins has been one of the key players for Gloucestershire this season. The 26-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder has had a significant impact with both bat and ball. He has returned with 29 wickets at an average of 19.17. 24 of those wickets have come in Gloucestershire’s wins. With the bat, he has chipped in with 233 runs averaging 33.28. Hence, he is going to be a key player.
David Payne may have played just four games in this season for Gloucestershire so far, but he has been in top form and has made huge contributions with the ball. The 30-year-old left-arm pacer has picked up 21 wickets at an average of 18.52 and has a bowling strike rate of 38.6. He has two five-wicket hauls and a 10-wicket haul as well in this tournament. Thus, Payne will once again be a critical player for Gloucestershire.
Prediction
In the last five matches between these two sides, Surrey have won two while Gloucestershire have won just one and the other two games ended in a draw. Even in those drawn games, Surrey were the ones who dominated and were well ahead in the game.
However, despite Surrey’s recent success against Gloucestershire, the latter may well start as slight favourites heading into this game. They did beat Surrey earlier this season, and it was a convincing eight-wicket win. However, not just because of that, Surrey have lost quite a few players for the next few rounds. Moreover, Gloucestershire’s form has been top-notch, and they are going strong.
