Dean Elgar made an immediate impact in his first appearance when he helped Surrey recover from an precarious position in the English County match against Derbyshire on Sunday.
Surrey has contracted Elgar as their overseas player for a 10-day spell, due to a spate of injuries and international call-ups.
He came in to bat when Surrey were 56-2, and played a cornerstone innings, scoring 44 off 60 balls, with seven fours, and taking the total to 149, when he was undone by the off-spin of Wes Durston.
Surrey were thrown into disarray in that horror T20 clash between Moises Henriques and Rory Burns as they both went for a high ball. Both were badly injured and will take some time to recover. Kumar Sangakkara is away with Sri Lanka and Jason Roy with England, Steven Davies is also injured, while Kevin Pietersen is at the CPL, leaving a paucity of top-order batting resources for Surrey to call upon.
Elgar has been registered to play for Surrey until July 1, encompassing this game, and against Gloucestershire, as well as a NatWest T20 Blast fixture at Glamorgan.
It will keep him active as he is due in Bangladesh for two matches at the end of the July and start of August. He has also been named captain of South Africa A’s 50-over side for a tri-series in India with Australia.
Surrey were dismissed for 239, and at the close of play, Derbyshire were 64-1
Elsewhere, Rory Kleinveldt took 5-41 as Northamptonshire bowled out Kent for 140 in 36 overs. Even that performance was shaded by Pakistan seamer Azharulla, who took 5-31.
Northants, though, made heavy work of their reply, struggling to 193-7 at the close, with Richard Levi digging in on 20 off 51 balls. With the first day washed out, they need a good lead for time is tight.
Johann Myburgh contributed 23 to Somerset’s total 310-6 against Hampshire. Gareth Berg made the first breakthough by bowling Marcus Trescothick after 92 runs were on the board. He ended with a conservative 1-25 off 20 overs
In a Natwest T20 Blast, Jacques Rudolph‘s Glamorgan were given a fearful 10-wicket beating by Sussex. The Saffa brigade of Rudolph (0), Craig Meschede (0), Colin Ingram (1) were back in the hut with 10 runs on the board within three overs. Chris Cooke resisted valiantly, but he got little support until Wayne Parnell joined him for a stand of 35 for the seventh wicket. Cooke ended on 45 off 42 balls while Parnell went on to 32 off 22.
Jacques Kallis’ return to action, for Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in the Caribbean T20 league, was cut short by rain after he had taken 2-31 and scored 10 not out. He was chasing St Luicia Zouks’ target of 179, to which Kevin Pietersen contributed 42.
Robin Peterson took 3-31 for Barbados Tridents as Guyana Amazon Warriors collapsed to 109 off 18 overs, chasing 158.
Compiled by Mark Salter
