Surrey blast their way to record

County Cricket / Editor / 30 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Surrey have set a new one-day scoring record after firing an amazing 496-4 from 50 overs in their Friends Provident Trophy game against Gloucestershire.

Openers Ali Brown and James Benning started the onslaught, amassing an opening stand of 294 with Brown eventually making 176 and Benning 152.

After Azhar Mahmood made 35, Rikki Clarke came in at four and smashed 82 off just 28 balls to help the home side to their mammoth total.

Gloucestershire fell well short in their run chase, reaching 239 all out in 34.1 overs and crashing to a 257-run defeat.
Surrey cricket manager Alan Butcher admitted: "You won't see too many matches like this in one-day cricket where a team racks up this many runs.

"Conditions were very good for batting but it was still an incredibly faultless display by the likes of Ali, James and Rikki in particular."

Surrey are among the favourites in an emerging Betfair winner's market for the FP Trophy with Yorkshire and Essex, both winners over the weekend, also expected to attract plenty of interest.