Sam Curran masterclass help Surrey to secure London Derby

Surrey captain Sam Curran struck an undefeated 71 from 47 balls to steer his side home in a hard-fought, low-scoring Vitality Blast derby against Middlesex at Lord's. The visitors slipped to 56 for four in the 11th over, still needing 88 to overhaul Middlesex's total of 143 for 8, but Curran's cool head guided them over the line with nine deliveries to spare. The all-rounder and Laurie Evans, who finished on 34 not out from 21, shared an unbroken partnership of 88 to secure Surrey's second consecutive tournament victory. Earlier, Luke Hollman's unbeaten 35 from 27 and Eathan Bosch (30 from 19) had hauled Middlesex to a competitive total, but it was not enough to prevent an 11th defeat in the last 13 Blast meetings with their rivals from across the Thames. After winning the toss, Middlesex elected to bat, but despite losing the first over to Reece Topley for 16, they were unable to gain enough momentum to challenge the bowlers. Max Holden got an early start when Tom Curran made a regulation catch at mid-off. He briefly took advantage of this by paddling him for consecutive fours, but Jordan Clark's clever slow yorker got the better of the left-hander (23 from 19). That proved to be the first of three wickets in four balls, with Adam Rossington and Leus du Plooy holing out off Topley before spinner Yousef Majid's tidy spell of 2 for 25 squeezed Middlesex further, reducing them to 65 for five. Ryan Higgins cover-drove Tom Curran and lost control of the bat, which flew back over his shoulder to dislodge the bails during the absurd collapse of the sixth wicket. However, Hollman - dropped in the covers early on - cut and ramped to good effect and he found a capable ally in Bosch, who pulled two powerful leg-side sixes before being run out in the final over as the pair added 53 from 32. That gave their bowlers something to defend and Surrey found it difficult to score quickly in the powerplay, with Jason Roy using up 13 balls for a meagre return of two before he swung at Noah Cornwell (1 for 22) and lost his leg stump. Bosch's ice-cool juggling act at deep midwicket disposed of Ollie Pope, while Dan Lawrence was caught at backward point off Tom Helm (2 for 24), but Sam Curran went on the offensive, finding the boundary with enough regularity to keep the run-rate manageable. Hollman's first three overs yielded only 11, but both Curran and Evans dispatched the leg-spinner over the rope to ensure his final one cost 15 and swung the pendulum decisively in the visitors' favour. Curran advanced to a 39-ball half-century, while Evans began to cut loose, hammering Helm twice to the fence before the captain heaved a single to wrap up victory in the penultimate over.