The mysterious No Face in Spirited Away (whose West End adaption is now captivating audiences and critics) mirrors the feelings and perspectives of everyone and everything he comes into contact with. At the Utilita Bowl, Hampshire gave the champs a working over that would have made Godzilla proud, and Surrey met their No Face.
It should come as no surprise that Dan Worrall was Surrey's best player; his batting displays a story, as his 48 at the end of the game proved to be his team's highest score. However, the home team played a match of unrelenting brilliance, as Toby Albert struck his first-ever century, Nick Gubbins recorded three figures, and Ben Brown achieved his highest-ever first-class ton. Records fell on the ground.
The tale of the spinners was what accurately disclosed the state of play balance. Liam Dawson and Felix Organ scored 12–175 while Dan Lawrence and Cameron Steel recorded one for 309. Before Surrey takes the field again with the red ball in hand, they have a few weeks to reflect on what went wrong; Hampshire, on the other hand, will look to utilise such an unexpected outcome as a springboard for the second half of their season.