Santner-led Surrey go top with thumping win

Surrey joined Somerset at the top of the Vitality Blast South Group after cruising to a 48-run win over Sussex Sharks at the Kia Oval.

Sussex themselves could have gone top with victory but an understrength side missing three of the team that had only lost one of their first six games never threatened a target of 211 and were dismissed for 162 in the final over when top scorer Danny Lamb was bowled by Chris Jordan.

Although this season's leading run-scorer, Jason Roy, failed to add to his 265 runs after falling for a second-ball duck, Dom Sibley (45), Will Jacks (43) and Sam Curran (38) made good contributions before 20-year-old left-hander Ollie Sykes thrashed 44 off 18 balls - including three sixes in an over from left-arm spinner James Coles - as 66 from the last four overs took Surrey to an imposing 210 for 6.

Without the injured Harrison Ward and Tom Alsop, scoring at 11 an over looked a tall order for Sussex, even more so when Reece Topley picked up two wickets to quickly reduce them to 14 for 3. Lamb made a career-best 49 and left-hander Tom Clark scored 45 but slow left-armer Mitch Santner spearheaded an impressive performance by Surrey's attack with 3 for 26.

Openers Jacks and Sibley added 52 in the first five overs after Surrey had been put in. Jacks was caught at deep midwicket trying to hit Tymal Mills for a third six in the over.

In the next over Roy was held at deep extra cover off left-armer Brad Currie but Sibley and skipper Sam Curran had little difficulty adding 61 from 44 balls for the third wicket before Sussex took three wickets in 15 deliveries to check Surrey's progress.

Sam Curran was caught and bowled by Coles off a leading edge, Sibley clipped Henry Crocombe to deep backward square and in the next over Nathan McAndrew claimed his 14th wicket in this season's Blast when Laurie Evans holed out to deep midwicket.

But Sykes soon wrested back control for Surrey, hitting four sixes and two fours in an impressive display of ball-striking as his sixth-wicket partnership with Tom Curran yielded 50 runs from 21 balls.

Sussex needed to make a good start but instead lost three wickets in the first three overs. Debutant George Thomas, signed from Somerset in the winter, lost his off stump to Topley's sixth ball which Thomas played around, Dan Hughes dragged a widish delivery from Tom Curran onto his stumps and Topley struck again courtesy of a superb diving catch in the deep by Sykes to remove Coles.

Clark and skipper John Simpson gave Sussex hope with a stand of 62 from 35 balls for the fourth wicket but the experienced New Zealander Santner had Clark and Simpson (21) caught on the leg-side boundary by Jacks in successive overs. Santner picked up Jack Carson in his final over and Topley finished with 3 for 34. Lamb's 49 from 34 gave Sussex some solace on a night when they were well beaten.