Surrey race to eight-wicket win over Middlesex in Blast

Surrey race to eight-wicket win over Middlesex in BlastImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Surrey opener Jason Roy has scored almost 11,000 runs in T20 cricketPublished1 minute agoCommentsVitality Blast, The Kia OvalMiddlesex 130-7 (20 overs): Hollman 31*; Abbott 2-16Surrey 134-2 (14.1 overs): Pope 51*; Helm 1-25Surrey beat Middlesex by eight wicketsMatch scorecardOllie Pope struck his first half-century of this year's T20 Blast as Surrey coasted past Middlesex in a one-sided South Group derby at The Oval.Pope, who finished unbeaten on 51 from 33 balls, shared a second-wicket stand of 74 from 44 with Jason Roy (46) as they made short work of the chase to get Surrey's T20 campaign back on track following successive defeats.Earlier, Surrey's seamers always looked on top and restricted their city rivals to a modest 130-7, with Reece Topley (1-21) and Sean Abbott (2-16) the pick of the bunch.Middlesex all-rounder Luke Hollman, with an unbeaten 31 from 29 balls, top-scored in a losing cause for the second successive game as Surrey triumphed for the 12th time in 14 Blast meetings between the sides.Although the forecast rain never actually materialised, Sam Curran put the visitors in after winning the toss and was rewarded as his bowlers gave little away, reducing Middlesex to 54-5.Max Holden was bowled by Jordan Clark and, although Adam Rossington (20) cleared the fence twice in the powerplay before miscuing Topley to mid-on, his wicket was the first of four to fall in 25 balls.Former Surrey batter Ben Geddes – having made a duck on his return to the ground in last year's Blast – was run out for a single this time, while Josh de Caires was unlucky to drag a pull off Abbott onto his stumps.With Leus du Plooy skying Clark (2-31) to mid-on, Middlesex's prospects of posting a competitive score looked forlorn, despite a valiant partnership of 47 from 39 by Hollman and Ryan Higgins (27).Riding his luck at times, Hollman landed some valuable blows a...