Loss of Greg Smith wicket crucial in Nottinghamshire’s Royal London One-Day Cup semi, says captain Chris Read

Kumar Sangakkara produced a batting master class as his 166 from 138 balls led Surrey to their second Lord’s final in four years.

The Sri Lankan left-hander made the highest score in this season’s Royal London Cup as Surrey squeezed out Nottinghamshire by just four runs in a thriller at the Kia Oval and will now face Gloucestershire at Lord’s on September 19.

But Read believes his side would have won had Smith not fallen for a magnificent 124.

Read said: “It was a fabulous game of cricket but we’re disappointed we didn’t get over the line at the end.

“Losing Greg Smith when we did was a knife in the back for us. It was a shame because it was a fabulous innings and if he’d been in at the end I think we would have won.

“It needed something special for us to get close after Sangakkara played a fantastic innings. We needed a big score but we just ran out of gas at the end.”