Essex skipper Pettini delighted with "special effort"

9:32am Tuesday 13th May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

ESSEX skipper Mark Pettini has spoken of the county's "special effort" following their record-breaking 156-run defeat of Surrey at The Oval.

The 24-year-old, who smashed a limited-overs best of 144, which along with 117 from Jason Gallian produced a brilliant first wicket stand of 269. That put Essex on the road to a 156-run win over Surrey to maintain their unbeaten record in this season's Friends Provident Trophy.

Essex had amassed a huge total of 391-5 from their 50 overs, that along with seamer David Masters' five-wicket haul saw them crush Surrey.

"You don't have too many days like that - it was obviously a good wicket but to get 390 was a special effort," Pettini told BBC Essex.

"David came on and was fantastic and we fielded a lot better than them. I think it was the right result in the end.

"It doesn't matter how flat a wicket is - if you're chasing 390 you need eight or nine an over from the very beginning and it's extremely difficult to get a run-chase going," he added.

"Some wickets are quite easy to assess, but with that one it was just a case of getting as many as we can and I think 390 was a great total.

"I've had a really good start to the year, I feel like I'm playing well - I had a little blip last week but you've got keep doing the basics right and keep doing your best."