Brilliant Bailey can't halt Sangakkara and co

Surrey 238 for 2 (Sangakkara 124*, Stoneman 53) beat Hampshire 271 for 8 (Bailey 145*, Abbott 56) by 66 runs (D/L method)
Scorecard

Kumar Sangakkara's classy unbeaten 124 helped Surrey to a comfortable 66-run win on Duckworth-Lewis against Hampshire at the Kia Oval after a brilliant unbeaten 145 by George Bailey had dramatically rallied the visitors to 271 for 8.

When rain arrived just before 6pm Surrey were in sight of a crushing conventional victory at 238 for 2 from 38 overs in reply, and well ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis target.

Sangakkara added 93 at a rate of seven runs an over for the second wicket with Mark Stoneman, who made 53 off 52 balls, and then a further unbroken 128 in 22 overs with Rory Burns.

Surrey claimed their fourth Royal London One-Day Cup victory of the season to stay on course for a quarter-final place while also virtually ending Hampshire's chances of qualification from the South Group.

Hampshire were seemingly down and out at 89 for 7 when 34-year-old Australian batsman Bailey was joined by former South Africa fast bowler Kyle Abbott in a record-breaking eighth wicket stand of 152 in 25 overs. They shattered the previous Hampshire List A record for the eighth wicket - the 93 added by Adrian Aymes and Shaun Udal against Middlesex at Portsmouth in 1996.

Abbott made a brave 56 from 77 balls in support of the superlative Bailey, who struck two sixes and 12 fours in a 132-ball effort which ended with him plundering 22 from the final over of the innings, bowled by Ravi Rampaul.

Some of Bailey's powerful strokeplay, in the second half of his innings, was of the highest quality as he accelerated past three figures in the 44th over, while Abbott also swung the suffering Rampaul for a huge six - his last scoring shot - before being bowled by the former West Indies paceman, who ended up with figures of 4 for 61.

Earlier, however, Rampaul had taken 3 for 22 in a brilliant seven-over spell from the Vauxhall End, sending back Liam Dawson, Lewis McManus and Gareth Berg in quick succession to further undermine a Hampshire innings which had initially slumped to 35 for 3 as the Curran brothers, Sam and Tom, wreaked havoc with the new ball.

A brilliant left-handed diving catch by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, inches from the turf, accounted for Rilee Rossouw for 5, off Tom Curran, and Sam Curran then saw Tom Alsop mis-hit a pull to short fine leg on 8 and James Vince lift a catch to extra cover where Burns scooped the ball up athletically as he dived forward.

Vince, fresh from his 178 against Glamorgan in Hampshire's previous match, looked in majestic form as he drove three times for four on the up through the covers but over-confidence seemed to contribute to his dismissal as much as the ball, delivered by the younger Curran from around the wicket, looking as if it had stopped a touch in the pitch.

Hampshire also lost the wicket of Sean Ervine cheaply, to a catch behind off Stuart Meaker, in between Rampaul's first two strikes - Dawson, on 17, snicking a brute of a ball to Foakes and McManus driving loosely to cover on 2. When Berg followed in Rampaul's next over, lbw for 1 in the 24th of the innings, Hampshire's day looked done.

Perhaps Surrey captain Gareth Batty should have kept Rampaul going because he was getting consistent extra bounce around the right-hander's off stump and was bowling with pace and venom.

Against Batty's off spin, and Scott Borthwick's leg breaks, who between them sent down Surrey's fifth bowler allocation, Bailey and Abbott were allowed to build their partnership carefully at first and then, when the seamers were reintroduced, with increasing confidence and style.

With the ball, Abbott made an important early breakthrough by removing Jason Roy for just a single but left-handers Stoneman and Sangakkara were soon in control - with one dreamy Sangakkara cover drive for four off Berg drawing gasps of admiration from a good-sized crowd enjoying both the spectacle and the south London sunshine.

Both reached their half-centuries in the same over - Stoneman off 48 balls, and Sangakkara off only 32 - and fast bowler Fidel Edwards had taken some heavy punishment by the time he had Stoneman caught at the wicket in the 16th over.

Then, Sangakkara was joined by Burns in the partnership which clinched the win. At the end Sangakkara had faced 121 balls, hitting 13 fours and two sixes - the first straight off Edwards and second pulled dismissively off Berg.