Surrey vs Leicestershire, Royal London One-Day Cup, Today Match Prediction 02 August 2022

sur vs leic Match Prediction & Analysis

Surrey's wait is almost over as they will host Leicestershire for their first game of the Royal London One-Day Cup campaign at Woodbridge Road, Guildford. The match is scheduled to play from 15:30 pm onwards (10:00 am local). This will be the 8th attempt of both teams to get their hands on the trophy for the first time.

Surrey finished last year’s campaign as semi-finalists. In the semis, Opener Mark Stoneman (117) and skipper Jamie Smith (85) took Surrey to post 280 for the loss of 8 wickets. But Durham chased the target in 48 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. Ryan Patel was Surrey’s leading run scorer for the season with 386 runs at an average of 55.14. While Connor McKerr took 18 wickets to lead the bowling chart.

Leicestershire won the last three games of the group stage but failed to qualify for the knockouts by just a point. Lewis Hill scored 322 runs at an average of 46. Ben Mike was the leading wicket-taker for Leicestershire with 9 wickets. 

In the last season, Leicestershire beat Surrey by 1 run, their first win over Surrey in the last 5 games. Batting Leicestershire scored 253 runs for the loss of 9 wickets with the help of keeper Harry Swindle’s 75 runs. Surrey was given 227 runs to chase in 39 overs after rain interruption. Ben Mike gave just 2 runs in the final over and took 2 wickets to win the game.  

TEAMS PREVIEW

Surrey Preview

Surrey is hands down the best team in this year’s county season. They are at the top of the County Championship Division One points table and haven’t lost a game after 11 outings. The question is - Can they replicate their dominance in the limited overs format of the game? 

Surrey’s top order will depend on Mark Stoneman, Ryan Patel, and skipper Jamie Smith. Stoneman scored 329 runs last season at an average of 54.83. He will have a new partner - Rory Burns. Burns has 1722 runs at an average of 35.14. He can add stability at the top. Skipper Jamie Smith played captain’s knocks throughout the last season. He ended up with 315 runs at an average of 63. It will be difficult for Leceistershire to get through the top order of Surrey.

Tim David caught everyone’s eye last season with his 340 runs in 8 innings at an average of 68. The swashbuckling batter scored 2 centuries and a half-century at a strike rate of 150.44. Conor McKerr and Daniel Moriarty will lead the bowling unit The duo took 18 and 15 wickets respectively in the last season to help Surrey reach the semis. Ollie Pope will be missing Surrey’s fixtures as he is not released by Welsh Fire.

Key Players: Ryan Patel, Conor McKerr, Jamie Smith

Surrey Predicted Playing XI:

Mark Stoneman, Ryan Patel, Rory Burns, Tim David, Jamie Smith (c & wk), Rikki Clarke, Cameron Steel, Nico Reifer, Conor McKerr, Daniel Moriarty, Matt Dunn

Leicestershire Preview

The case of Leicestershire is an ex opposite of Surrey. They haven’t won a single game in the County Championship this season. In fact, they created an unwanted record to register the highest total (584) in the first innings that ended up losing by an innings. The limited-over format will be Leicestersire’s chance to revive.

Rishi Patel and Harry Swindles will open for Leicestershire. Both were the anchors of the last season. Patel scored 319 runs at an average of 45.57 while Swindles added 179 runs with two half-centuries in 6 innings. Australian Marcus Harris played 4 games for Leicestershire last season. He scored 232 runs at an average of 58 including a century and a half-century. 

Bowling wise Leicestershire needs to make a lot of effort. None of their bowlers managed to take more than 10 wickets in 8 matches. Bowling all-rounder Ben Mike was the only standout with 8 wickets. Leicestershire has added South African left-arm pacer Beuran Hendricks. Hendricks has played 84 List A games so far and has 108 wickets.  

Key Players: Rishi Patel, Harry Swindles, Beuran Hendricks

Leicestershire Predicted Playing XI:

Rishi Patel, Harry Swindells (wk), George Rhodes, Lewis Hill (c), Arron Lilley, Louis Kimber, Ben Mike, Rehan Ahmed, Edward Barnes, Gavin Griffiths, Will Davis

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The weather will be mostly cloudy with no chance of rain. The temperature will range between 17 and 24°C. The wind will be flowing from the west at 15-30 kmh. The pitch favors batters and bowlers equally but is suited for pacers and spinners.

Venue Details

The match between Surrey and Leicestershire will be played at Woodbridge Road, Guildford. The venue holds a capacity of 4500 spectators. It is the home ground for Surrey Cricket Club.

Toss: To Bowl

Woodbridge Road hasn’t hosted limited-over games except one for over 4 years. Surrey won that game by 33 runs. But historically, in the last 5 matches played here team chasing the target has won 4 times. The team winning the toss should field first.