#OTD in 2003: Surrey secured a title victory in the first edition of T20 Blast

On this day, nineteen years ago, Surrey emerged as the winners of the inaugural edition of the T20 Blast by beating Warwickshire by nine wickets at Nottingham. 

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) took a big step to organize a maiden T20 tournament, amid declining interest in the longer formats. The

T20 Blast became an instant hit as it not only brought back crowds to the stadium but also created a whole new fandom. 

Coming back to the day of the finale, Warwickshire Bears and Surrey Lions came to the big clash after an impressive league round. The Bears had finished second in the Wales Division, while Lions emerged as the best team in the South Division points table. 

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Jimmy Ormond blows away Warwickshire top-order

Warwickshire won the toss and opted to bat first. However, their decision could not bear them fruitful results, as the top-order batters fell to the brilliance of Jimmy Ormond. 

Ormond breached past the defense of the openers, Neil Carter (8) and captain Nick Knight (8), and followed it up with a wicket of Jim Troughton (1). The experienced Azhar Mahmood dismissed Ian Bell (5) to cause more trouble for the Bears. 

It was a tough resolve displayed by the likes of Trevor Penney (33) and wicket-keeper Tony Frost (31), which helped Warwickshire to post a respectable total of 115. Ormond finished with figures of 4/11 in four overs. 

Surrey openers guide the team to a title victory

The Lions openers Ian Ward and Ali Brown were flawless with their timing to give a blistering start to the team in the powerplay overs. Afterwards, they consolidated superbly to steer the team to the opposition’s score. 

Ward was dismissed for 50 off 28 by Graham Wagg. However, Brown (55*) remained unbeaten to chase down the total under 11 overs and secure a maiden T20 title for the Surrey team. 

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