The Vitality Blast match between Surrey and Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff last Wednesday was a historic one for West Indian off-spinner, Sunil Narine.

While he ended up with relatively pedestrian figures of 1-34 off his four overs to help Surrey defend a mammoth 237, his dismissal of South African Colin Ingram for 11 was extremely significant.

With that dismissal, the 35-year-old Trinidadian became only the third man in history to reach 500 wickets in T20s, joining Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, who has 555 and fellow Trinidadian, Dwayne Bravo, who leads the way by a mile with 615.

Narine made his T20 debut all the way back in 2011 when he represented Trinidad & Tobago against Hampshire in the Caribbean T20 at the Kensington Oval and has since gone on to represent a number of franchises in leagues across the globe, most notably helping the Kolkata Knight Riders to a pair of IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, taking over 20 wickets in each season.

In Surrey’s next game, which they also won, Narine was back to his best with figures of 3-12 in 2.5 overs.

In total, Narine has taken 503 wickets in 461 matches at an average of 21.01 including 12 four-wicket hauls and one five-wicket haul.

For the West Indies, Narine has taken 52 wickets in 51 matches at 21.25. His last T20 for the West Indies came against India at Providence in 2019.

Surrey recorded the fourth highest score in T20 Blast history after running up a massive 258 for six in their emphatic 124-run victory over Sussex at Hove.

Laurie Evans led the way with 93 off 51 balls and shared in a 157-run second-wicket stand with with Sam Curran, who clubbed 68 off 35 deliveries. Jamie Overton maintained the impetus with a rapid 24 before Tom Curran smashed three sixes and two fours in an nine-ball 29.

Sussex were never in a position to challenge despite Tom Clark’s 43 off 23 at the top of the order and they were bowled out in the 15th over as Surrey moved second behind Somerset in the South Group with their biggest T20 win.

The leaders, who hold the Blast record with their 265 for five last season, were similarly comfortable 80-run winners over neighbours Gloucestershire.

Opener Will Smeed struck eight sixes and eight fours in a 35-ball 94 to propel his side to 231 for four, which proved well beyond the reach of their hosts at Bristol.

Essex also enjoyed a convincing victory at Glamorgan after Paul Walter’s career-best 78 off 34 saw them post 226 for nine and despite the hosts’ top three all getting into the 40s they could not maintain the momentum.

Kent dented Hampshire’s hopes of keeping the pressure on the top two as they registered only their second victory of the summer as Daniel Bell-Drummond’s 89 off 55 saw them secure a six-wicket win with three balls to spare at Canterbury.

Ben McDermott (57) and Joe Weatherley (67) put on 85 in eight overs in Hampshire’s total of 177 for seven but Jack Leaning hit the third ball of the final over to the boundary for victory.

Shaheen Shah Afridi saw Notts Outlaws home against Derbyshire with a quick 14 off seven balls – including a towering six off Pakistan team-mate Zaman Khan – as they retained top spot in the North Group.

Chasing the hosts’ 142 for six, Notts looked comfortable at 123 for five in the 17th over but the loss of Steven Mullaney ramped up the pressure until Afridi stepped up.

The three-wicket win, their fourth in succession, left Derbyshire still looking for their first victory over their neighbours in this format since 2015.

Moeen Ali, who came out of retirement to rejoin England’s Test squad this week, and Dan Mousley bowled Birmingham Bears to victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks with three wickets apiece.

Bears failed to complete their full allocation of overs as they were bowled out for 137 – Freddie Heldreich claiming four for 27 – but Northamptonshire were limited to 107 for nine in reply as Birmingham moved into second place.

That was because Worcestershire Rapids came up 26 short in their high-scoring game against Yorkshire, for whom James Wharton scored 111 not out off 56 balls and shared in a second-wicket stand of 159 with Dawid Malan (79) as the Vikings amassed 224 for four at Headingley.

Kashif Ali (48no) and Ben Cox (35) made a game of it with an 81-run stand for the fifth wicket but they could not get their side over the line, finishing on 198 for six as Jordan Thompson took four for 34.

Leicestershire’s second win of the season was not enough to lift them off the foot of the table as they beat Durham by six wickets courtesy of a 149-run second-wicket alliance between Rishi Patel (104 off 49 balls) and Lewis Hill (54 not out).

Australian Ashton Turner had accelerated Durham to 172 for four with a late unbeaten 60 but the Foxes won with 14 balls to spare.

West Indies pacer Kemar Roach continued his good form with Surrey in the County Championship Division One by taking eight wickets in total to help them secure a dominant nine-wicket win over Warwickshire inside three days at Edgbaston from April 27-29.

Firstly, Roach took 3-33 off 15 overs to help bowl Warwickshire out for a paltry 150 inside 56 overs. Australian pacer Daniel Worrall led the way with 4-38 from 17 overs. Youngster Dan Mousley made 55 for Warwickshire.

Surrey then built a 131-run first innings lead after being bowled out for 281 in 91.1 overs. Jamie Smith led the way with 88 while England Test keeper Ben Foakes (39) and Worrall (35) provided some handy contributions against pacers Chris Rushworth, Hasan Ali and Oliver Hannon-Dalby who all took three wickets, each.

Roach then, once again, showed his class with the ball on his way to 5-34 from 13 overs as Warwickshire were bowled out cheaply for the second time in the match, this time for 141 in just 40 overs, leaving Surrey needing just 11 to win. Worrall took 3-55 from 15 overs in support of Roach.

Surrey needed just two overs to reach 16-1, securing a nine-wicket win.

The 34-year-old Bajan now has 14 wickets in three games, good enough for eighth on the leading wicket-takers list.

With his sixth wicket in the game, Roach also brought up 500 wickets in First-Class cricket.

West Indies pacer Kemar Roach took four wickets in the match to help Surrey defeat Hampshire by nine wickets at the Kennington Oval in London from April 13-16 for their first win of the 2023 County Championship Division One season.

In Hampshire’s first innings, Roach bowled 16 overs and took 2-63 as they were bowled out for 254 in 79.3 overs. Wicketkeeper batsmen Ben Brown led the way with the bat for Hampshire with 95 and Keith Barker made 58. 20-year-old medium pacer Tom Lawes also bowled 16 overs for Surrey, taking 4-58.

England Test batsmen Ollie Pope then made 91 and Australian Sean Abbott contributed 52 as Surrey made 270 off 85.5 overs in their first innings.

Pakistani pacer Mohammad Abbas starred for Hampshire with 6-64 off 27.5 overs while medium pacers Kyle Abbott and James Fuller took a pair of wickets, each.

Hampshire’s second innings almost mirrored their first, being bowled out for 258 in 88 overs this time.

Nick Gubbins made a patient 199-ball 84 and Ian Holland scored 46 as Australian Daniel Worrall took 5-40 off 17 overs. Roach bowled 18 overs and ended with 2-43.

Needing 243 to win, Surrey’s successful chase was led by a brilliant 122* from Pope, his 17^th first class hundred, and 79* from Dominic Sibley.

In the end, Surrey needed 55.2 overs to reach 247-1.

West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach will be returning to Surrey for the first six games of the LV=Insurance County Championship season.

Roach, 34, is returning to the club for a third season after successful spells in 2021 and in the title-winning 2022 season.

In his time at Surrey so far, he has taken 47 wickets at 23.57, including best figures of 8 for 40 against Hampshire in 2021.

Twenty-five of Roach's wickets came in seven matches in last year's Championship triumph, including a second-innings five-for against Warwickshire at the Kia Oval in July, to set up a six-wicket victory.

Roach - who last year became the sixth West Indian to reach 250 Test wickets - will join up with the squad ahead of Surrey's first fixture, away at Emirates Old Trafford against Lancashire, and his first game back at The Oval will be against Hampshire (13-16 April).

Roach will then be available for the trips to Edgbaston and Chelmsford before finishing his spell with two home derbies against Middlesex (11-14 May) and Kent (18-21 May).

"I really enjoy playing for Surrey and winning the title last year was incredible to be a part of," Roach said.

"It's such a talented and exciting group of players and I can't wait to get back out on the pitch representing the club."

Gareth Batty, Head Coach at Surrey, added: "We're looking forward to welcoming Kemar back to Surrey. He brings great ability and work ethic, and his experience plays an important role in the dressing room.

"Kemar has already shown what he can do in his time at the club so far and we're excited to have him joining us again this year."

A knee injury has ruled former West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard out of the remainder of Surrey’s Vitality Blast campaign.

The 35-year-old suffered the issue early in the campaign and underwent surgery on Tuesday morning, ruling him out for between four and six weeks.

Pollard scored 99 runs and took a single wicket in six matches for Surrey, who started the campaign with eight wins and a no result from their first nine games to go top of the South Group.

"This is hugely frustrating as we have been a dominant force and I felt I was part of something special," said Pollard in an interview on Tuesday.

“I wish the lads all the best for the rest of the campaign whilst I get myself fit and firing again," he added.

Pollard retired from international cricket in April of this year after representing the West Indies in 123 One-Day Internationals and 101 T20 Internationals, since his international debut against South Africa in 2007.

Pollard also holds the current record for most T20 matches played with 598, 60 ahead of former West Indies teammate Dwayne Bravo and 126 ahead of former Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik.

An excellent all-round display from Trinidadian Sunil Narine propelled Surrey to a seven-wicket win over Middlesex in their Vitality Blast South Group fixture at the Oval on Friday.

Surrey won the toss and elected to field first, restricting Middlesex to 155-8 off their 20 overs.

Luke Hollman (31), captain Stephen Eskinazi (25), and wicketkeeper/batsman John Simpson (25) were the chief scorers against Narine (2-27 off four overs) and Barbados-born England all-rounder Chris Jordan (2-27 off four overs).

Narine then top-scored with 51 not out off just 29 balls, including two fours and four sixes, while engaging in a match-winning 73-run fourth-wicket partnership with England test batsman Ollie Pope (37 not out).

Opener Will Jacks earlier smashed a 20-ball 43 for Surrey who easily reached 158-3 off just 15.1 overs to secure victory.

Surrey, also the team of former West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard, now lead the South Group with 15 points from eight games after seven wins and one no result.

West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach ended his five-game stint in the English County Championship on a high on Saturday taking nine wickets in Surrey’s drawn match with Middlesex.

Kemar Roach took career-best figures of 8-40 and 10 wickets in the match as Surrey defeated Hampshire by an innings and 289 runs in their English County Cricket match that ended on Friday.

Roach began the match taking 2-40 in Hampshire’s first innings of 92 all out. However, it was Jordan Clarke who did the bulk of the damage taking 6-21. Lewis McManus top-scored with 31 for Hampshire in their innings that lasted just 34.3 overs.

The situation would only become even direr for Hampshire as 215 from Hashim Amla, 131 from Ollie Pope 131 and knocks of 80 and 78 from Jamie Smith and Roy Burns, respectively, propelled Surrey to 560 for 7 declared.

Roach then moved in for the kill.

Getting prodigious swing both ways, the Barbadian took three in eight balls towards the end of his first spell, two in seven in his second, and three in 13 in his third as Hampshire folded for 179 in their second turn at-bat. 

“It was going conventionally, not reversing," Roach said.

"The way I gripped the ball was a little looser today. It was overcast conditions so the ball was going to do something once you put it in the right areas and stayed strong at the crease. The guys worked incredibly well on the ball and the information I got on the field about different batsmen and their weaknesses worked fantastically."

Once again, McManus was Hampshire’s top scorer with 51.

Roach’s 10-80 was also a career-best for the veteran West Indies pace bowler.

West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach has signed with County Championship side Surrey for the first seven games of the season.