Surrey marked the return of fans to live cricket with their first win of the season as they beat Hampshire in a rain-affected game in the T20 Blast.
Around 1,000 fans had visited The Oval for a friendly against Middlesex in July, but Thursday night’s game was the first competitive action played in front of a crowd since the coronavirus lockdown.
As part of the government’s pilot scheme for returning fans to live sport, Surrey were allowed 2,500 supporters following social distancing measures.
Rained threatened to spoil the party, halting Hampshire’s innings after just three overs, but the sides were eventually able to return to complete a reduced 11-over-per-side game.
Sam Northeast’s 31 helped the visitors to 77 for five, with Surrey’s target adjusted to 80 via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Will Jacks and South African great Hashim Amla made the chase look simple with a first-innings partnership of 64 before the latter fell to Mason Crane and Laurie Evans arrived at the crease to help see Surrey home to a nine-wicket win with two balls to spare.
The victory ended a torrid run for Surrey across all formats. The county lost all four of their four-day Bob Willis Trophy matches last month, and had one defeat, one tie and one no-result from their first three Blast fixtures.
