Gloucestershire kept up their amazing winning record in finals at Lord’s as they pulled off a thrilling six-run One-Day Cup win over Surrey.
Jade Dernbach’s superb 6-35, finished with a hat-trick, saw Gloucestershire all out for 220 in the 48th over.
Kumar Sangakkara (60) and Rory Burns (56) then shared a stand of 101 to put Surrey in control on 143-2.
But eight wickets went down for 71 runs as they were all out for 214 with three balls remaining in the final over.
It was Gloucestershire’s ninth win in 10 Lord’s one-day finals – and the perfect way for Geraint Jones, who had earlier hit a half-century himself, to bow out in his final game before retirement.
For dejected opposite number Gareth Batty – caught by man-of-the-match Jack Taylor in the final over to spark wild scenes of Gloucestershire jubilation – it was the former Worcestershire and England spinner’s third Lord’s final defeat, all of them by Gloucestershire.
They did not appear to have put enough runs on the board despite a Jones-inspired recovery from 108-5 to 220-7, in which Taylor contributed 35 off 26 balls.
And 15 deliveries were left unused after Dernbach finished off the innings by claiming the wickets of Jones (50), and then Craig Miles and David Payne for successive first-ball ducks.
Surrey lost openers Jason Roy and Steven Davies early during a superb new-ball spell by James Fuller (2-34), but Sangakkara and Burns gradually got on top.
However, just when Surrey looked to have the game in their grasp, both were out in the space of 13 balls and the tail buckled under mounting pressure as they suffered their sixth defeat in 11 Lord’s finals.
It briefly looked as if 17-year-old Sam Curran (37) might steer Surrey home against the county for whom his late father Kevin used to play.
But he holed out on the long-on boundary off the first ball of the final over, and skipper Batty followed two balls later, picking out Taylor at deep mid-wicket.
The importance of winning the toss at Lord’s?
Since the very first limited-overs cup final in 1963, there had been 52 end-of season showdowns at the home of cricket prior to this contest,
Of those, four – from 2010 to 2013 – were 40-over finals starting at lunchtime.
But, of the remaining 48, which started in the invariably advantageous atmospheric conditions of a September morning, the side batting second won 32.
It was therefore hardly a surprise that Surrey, having won the toss, should choose to put Gloucestershire in, but their opponents proved that a greater team spirit is even more important, by simply never giving up and confounding the odds.
Dernbach’s finest hour
Dernbach’s figures were the third-best in a Lord’s one-day final, bettered only by Glen Chapple’s 6-18 for Lancashire against Essex in 1996 and Joel Garner’s 6-29 for Somerset against Northants in 1979.
His hat-trick was the third in a domestic showpiece, matching Ken Higgs for Leicestershire against Surrey in 1974, and James Averis for Gloucestershire against Worcestershire in 2004 – when the middle victim was Batty.
But the manner in which Dernbach finished the innings to earn his best-ever limited over bowling figures was highly contentious.
TV replays showed the ball going down leg side, a poor decision by umpire Rob Bailey, but it was also a ‘full bunger’ to last man David Payne.
Contrasting fortunes for old stagers
Following the injury that ruled out Zafar Ansari, Surrey called 40-year-old former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood into their side, two days after his appearance at The Oval in a Cricket for Heroes match, in which he dismissed Brian Lara and Brendon McCullum.
This time his 10 economical overs brought him 2-28, but his departure, stumped for five, was one of a series of rushes of blood which cost Surrey the chance of silverware.
Team-mate Sangakkara’s innings may have been his last at Lord’s now he has retired from international cricket.
It did not match the stunning 166 he scored in the semi-final win over Nottinghamshire, but he played faultlessly, getting the majority of his runs in ones and twos and hitting just three boundaries, until uncharacteristically gifting his wicket to spinner Jack Taylor.
Skipper Batty was one of only four Surrey players who played in their last Lord’s winning team in 2011, but this time ended up on the losing side despite winning the toss and seeing his decision to bowl first apparently pay off.
If they were disappointed, ex-England wicketkeeper Jones was elated by Gloucestershire’s victory, having played a sensible last innings to get them back in the game.
After reaching his 50 with a pull for four off Dernbach, he was bowled with the very next ball, but he had done enough to warrant a warm reception on his way back to the pavilion.
