ESSEX Eagles captain Ravi Bopara said failing to keep the Surrey total down was a key reason in why they fell eight runs short in their first T20 match of the season.

Surrey posted 170 despite being 80-6 at one stage, with Azhar Mahmood (42) and Tom Curran (32) making a brilliant late stand to help the visitors to a competitive score.

And Essex failed to keep pace, despite being helped by some poor Surrey fielding. Struggling at 26-3, knocks from Tom Westley (46), Ryan ten Doeschate (36) and Ashar Zaidi (30) helped Essex close in on the total but the departure of Graham Napier proved costly.

But Bopara said the failure to pick off the rest of the Surrey order proved decisive.

“We needed to keep their score down,” said Bopara. “Getting 170 after the good start we had and getting six of their batsmen out so early means they shouldn’t have got there but they played well and batted deep.

“When Aza (Mahmood) came in we wanted to go with our heavy bowlers downhill and he played well and saw them off in the first 20 balls, which was a blow.

“I was grinding my teeth in the dugout in my first game as captain but in the middle you are telling your bowlers ‘Come on, you are half an over down’ (with Essex required to bowl their overs in a specific time frame) and you are piling pressure on them.

“The crowd have been brilliant and have been for years and we will do everything to get the result next time.”