Ravichandran Ashwin took the new ball on his Surrey debut in the County Championship and bowled an impressive spell, picking up the wicket of the left-handed Tom Lammonby with a peach.
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Ashwin, who had signed up to play for Surrey for their fixture against Somerset, was immediately into the action at The Oval with Rory Burns tossing the ball to the off-spinner to tackle Somerset’s left-handed openers, one of whom was Devon Conway, who Ashwin had bowled to recently in the World Test Championship final.
Ashwin’s first spell went for just 19 runs as he found turn and drift and looked sharp with the ball. He was hit for a couple of fours by Conway in the fifth over, but came back strong to beat the left-hander’s bat soon after.
Devon Conway takes a couple of boundaries off Ravi Ashwin’s third over and Somerset are 20/0
LIVE STREAM ➡️ https://t.co/dF6GhNA901#SURvSOM #WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/Le63ZhF0cu
— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) July 11, 2021
😬 The first time Ashwin’s beat the bat today.
WATCH LIVE ⏩ https://t.co/dglhGophyM pic.twitter.com/jiCUf3hv27
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 11, 2021
Conway was sent back by Jordan Clark soon after, but Somerset had another southpaw at No.3, bringing Ashwin back into the game. This time, Ashwin sent a strong warning to the England left-handers, his Surrey captain included, as he cleaned up Lammonby with one that drifted back in to deceive the batsman, the youngster, who was one of the breakout players in the 2020 English county season, helplessly shouldering arms to the delivery.
😍 @ashwinravi99 gets his wicket!
Watch Ashwin bowl here 👉 https://t.co/mz69ACW2wo pic.twitter.com/SlvYBWmkJ2
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) July 11, 2021