[Watch] Sam Curran slams monstrous six to reach maiden T20 hundred in Surrey's T20 Blast clash against Hampshire
England all-rounder Sam Curran scored his maiden T20 hundred to guide Surrey to a five-wicket win over Hampshire in the Vitality T20 Blast clash at The Oval on Thursday, July 18. Surrey chased down the 184-run target with five balls to spare, with Curran bringing up his hundred with a huge six on the last ball of the contest.
The all-rounder did not have the best time with the ball in the first innings, conceding 39 runs off his four overs without a wicket to his name. Slotted in at No. 5, Curran had to walk out to bat in the fifth over, as Surrey batters Rory Burns, Will Jacks, and Laurie Evans departed after failing to reach double figures.
Curran did the bulk of the scoring while forging a partnership with Dom Sibley. He got off to a decent start and then switched gears with successive sixes off Benny Howell in the 10th over. He brought up his fifty in the 13th over, and the responsibility was on him as the settled batter to see things through, as Sibely departed in the same over.
With 57 runs needed off the last five overs, Sam Curran scored three boundaries off Brad Wheal in the 16th over to significantly diffuse the tension. Jamie Overton also played a handy cameo in the death overs to take Surrey closer to the target.
Curran was stranded on 96 at the end of the penultimate over as Surrey were only a couple of runs away from the win. He proceeded to hit a huge six over long-on by clearing his front leg against a full delivery from James Fuller. Have a look at the winning shot right here:
Sam Curran had scored a duck in the previous outing against Essex but had chipped in with a fifty against Somerset.
The win cemented Surrey's place at the top of the South Group in the Vitality Blast. They have lost only two matches and have amassed 20 points from 13 matches so far.
Sam Curran has batted regularly in the middle order for a while now
The all-rounder has batted across a variety of positions over the course of his career. With England's stacked batting lineup, he has not had the opportunity to play up the order, but that is not the case when it comes to franchise cricket.
From MI Cape Town to Punjab Kings to Surrey, Sam Curran has regularly batted in the middle order. In the recent 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, he batted as an opener and in the middle order to accumulate 270 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 124.