Laurie Evans and Sam Curran provide fireworks as Surrey thrash Glamorgan

Laurie Evans produced a record-breaking batting performance to set up Surrey’s 65-run victory against Glamorgan in their Vitality Blast match in Cardiff.

Evans hit an unbeaten 118 off 60 balls to post both the highest T20 score made against Glamorgan and at Sophie Gardens.

Sam Curran smashed 66 off just 29 balls while Will Jacks made 46 off 29 as Surrey set the hosts a mammoth target of 237 for the loss of just two wickets.

And the hosts were without big hitting all-rounder Dan Douthwaite for the chase as he only managed to bowl 10 balls before he left the field.

Glamorgan eventually reached 171 for eight as Surrey closed out a comfortable win, with Sam Northeast’s 76 the only significant score from the home side.

Surrey won the toss and elected to bat and were electrifying from the very start.

Jacks gave Evans great support in an opening stand that brought 115 runs from just 64 balls. Jacks was dismissed when he was trapped lbw by Glamorgan leg-spinner Peter Hatzoglou.

While Evans had been the aggressor in his stand with Jacks it was Curran who took on the role when he walked into bat at three.

In an innings full of outrageous shots, seven of which were smoked over the boundary for six, it was the three balls Curran hit over the rope in Prem Sisodiya’s final over that will live longest in the memory.

The last was a shot where Curran danced down the pitch a long way from where the ball pitched and still managed to straight drive it for six.

It was in that same Sisodiya over that Glamorgan nearly had some respite from the partnership, but Kiran Carlson, playing with a dislocated finger, put down a catch at long on when Evans was on 94.

Career-best score

Evans made the most of his chance to record his third hundred in T20 cricket – his first for Surrey – and a career-best T20 score.

Curran departed in the final over, caught by Colin Ingram at long on going for another six, as Surrey posted the highest T20 total made on this ground, going past the 216 for five that Glamorgan made against Hampshire in 2019.

Glamorgan were left with a near insurmountable task of going at nearly 12 runs an over from the very start of their innings and they were two wickets down inside the powerplay, with Carlson and Callum Taylor both falling inside the first six overs.

The hosts came into this match with four wins from five matches and most of that success has been down to the form of Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke. There was a rare failure for both of them with Ingram dismissed for 11 by Sunil Narine and Cooke clean bowled by Gus Atkinson for 12.

With Cooke and Ingram gone it was left to Northeast to try and bring some respectability to the Glamorgan total and his half century was the only bright spot on a tough day for his side.