Surrey wary of Higgins hurricane

Surrey v Middlesex
Sky Cricket, 6.30pm Friday
Kevin Pietersen returned to Surrey to set up a ten-run T20 Blast win over Essex on Wednesday night and the men from The Oval are 8-11 to follow up against visitors Middlesex.

Pietersen hit Essex spinner Simon Harmer for four sixes in an over during his quickfire 52 in a low-scoring contest in which no other batsman reached 30.

A calf injury meant the former England batsman wasn't able to field but Surrey will hope he recovers to take his place in a glittering top order.

You don't often see Kumar Sangakkara chalked up as fourth favourite to be his team's top runscorer in a county game in any format but the Sri Lankan legend is below Pietersen and international openers Jason Roy and Aaron Finch in the Surrey betting.

Despite that batting talent, and arguably the best limited-overs bowling attack in the country, Surrey have made a middling start to their Blast campaign, with three wins and two defeats.

One of their two losses came in the reverse fixture at Lord's. Middlesex looked to be cruising home that night before losing six wickets for 20 runs and needing a Steven Finn boundary to seal a one-wicket win.

Ten of those 20 runs came from the three balls faced by Ryan Higgins, whose lower-order hitting has really caught the eye in this competition.

Middlesex, who were due to face Kent on Thursday night, have lost far too many early wickets in the Blast this season and number nine Tim Southee top-scored with 64 not out against Hampshire last Friday.

Higgins, who comes in at six or seven, is 20-1 to top-score at The Oval and those odds merit a bet.

The Harare-born youngster smashed an unbeaten 68 off just 28 balls to burgle a tie at Gloucestershire and made 35 not out against Somerset last Sunday, when Paul Stirling's 39 was the highest individual innings.

Recommendation
R Higgins top Middlesex runscorer
1pt 20-1 bet365

Elsewhere on Friday's Blast coupon, Glamorgan are worth backing to complete the double over Sussex in Cardiff.

The Welsh raiders claimed a memorable victory over the Sharks at Arundel, with Colin Ingram's century powering them to an 18-run win.

The former South Africa batsman was at it again last Sunday, when his 114 from 55 balls helped Glamorgan chase down 220 to beat Essex at Chelmsford.

Jacques Rudolph had led them to 171-5 in the 18th over before rain ruined their last home game against Somerset and there could be more pain in store for a Sussex side who had just one point from three games before Thursday's clash with in-form Hampshire.

Recommendation
Glamorgan
2pts 4-5 general