Published: Sep 04, 2025, 09:13 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 04, 2025, 09:15 AM (IST)
Ravi Bopara, who is 40 years old, played on the first England squad to win the T20 World Cup. He still has what it takes to play well in the T20 Blast. Bopara scored an undefeated 105 runs off of 46 balls in the quarterfinals against Sam Curran’s Surrey on September 3. Bopara did really well in the 14-over-a-side game that was played in the rain. His fireworks lit up the Kennington Oval and helped Northamptonshire score many runs and win by seven runs.
Bopara came in to bat in the first over. Jordan Clark got rid of Ricardo Vasconcelos and Captain David Willey with the fresh ball. Initially, Tim Robinson was in charge. In the fourth over, Bopara smashed the first six of his innings. After Robinson left, he went after Sam and Gus Atkinson. He had to hit 24 balls to reach fifty. After hitting 44 balls, the seasoned batsman got his century in the penultimate over of the innings. In 46 balls, he hit 12 fours and five sixes.Northamptonshire made 154 runs and lost 4 wickets.
Surrey also lost wickets early in the chase. Willey got rid of Ryan Patel, while Ben Sanderson got rid of Jason Roy. Ollie Pope and Sam were in charge of getting runs. They made a 74-run partnership for the third wicket. George Scrimshaw earned his first big break when he grabbed Pope’s wicket for 41 runs in 23 balls. Scrimshaw also got rid of Laurie Evans and Dan Lawrence. Sam didn’t get any help from the other end and stayed unbeaten for 38 balls, scoring 69 runs in the failed run chase. Surrey scored 147 runs but lost the game by seven runs.
“It was an amazing win,” Bopara told Sky Sports as he accepted his player-of-the-match award. “We knew there was going to be a bit of rain about, and we knew that this pitch might nibble at the start, but our philosophy was ‘just keep going’ and it will come off. And today it did.
“We’re always going to stick with it. Because if someone has a day out, you end up posting a score like that. If someone gets a quick 80 or 100, you’re away.”
Bopara goes up
Bopara has now scored three centuries in his T20 career. He said after the game that he didn’t have a lot of energy before the game, but somehow it brought out the best in him.
“I don’t know if I’m getting better, but I was thinking about it all night,” he said. “I didn’t have that fire in my belly today, and that’s when I prefer it, when I feel a bit dead. That’s when I feel like I’m going to perform my best. It doesn’t always work, but [when it does] it’s good.”
Bopara had an extended break before the semifinals
On September 13, Bopara will play in the semifinals. The 40-year-old is the seventh-highest run-scorer in the current season. He has scored 453 runs in 15 games, with an average of 45.30 and a strike rate of 146.13.
