Better Times:

It is one of the oldest and best rivalries in domestic county cricket, but both Middlesex and Surrey have little to celebrate. Both languish in the second division of the four-day game, despite having dominated the county scene in their primes. They boasted some of the greatest players ever to play the game.

Jack Hobbs has an unbreakable record of 197 first class centuries and Andrew Sandham was the first triple centurion in Test cricket as well as the oldest. Dennis Compton and Bill Edrich formed one of the greatest partnerships in the history of cricket, but both counties are in a rebuilding process.

Surrey is investing in youth, but has the guiding hand of the latest member of the hundred hundreds club, Mark Ramprakash, to help it develop. England captain Andrew Strauss is enjoying his benefit season at Middlesex this year, although he will spend most of the remainder of the summer locked in the tussle for the Ashes that begins in July.

Nought but Pride:

Despite winning the Twenty20 title last season, Middlesex's defence and form this year has been horrible. They took eight matches to win and are firmly rooted in last place; Surrey fared little better. The old enemies prop up their group with no prospect of progressing to the knockout phase, so they play for nothing buit pride.

Michael Brown showed it in abundance. He has only played eleven Twenty20 matches, but set about Middlesex's bowling with relish. He scored a rapid 77 today – his best ever score in this format. It took him just 54 balls with ten fours. He gave his team a platform to take the match away from Middlesex before they had even batted.

Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka's skipper insists that Twenty20 is a bowler's game, but Steve Finn and Murali Kartik had reason to disagree as both were treated harshly – Finn's two overs cost 27. Brown also showed good reason to contest Sangakkara's opinion and Owais Shah gave Surrey's bowlers reason to be wary.

Brown led Surrey to a competitive total of 160 for 5 and Billy Godelman was dismissed cheaply again, but it wasn't Neil Dexter's day either. He was brilliantly run out by Stewart Walters for 20, but there are few better strikers of the ball in limited overs cricket than Shah when he is in the mood and Shah was definitely focused.

Chris Schofield found that to his cost as Shah greeted him with a magnificent lofted drive over the bowler's head for six on his way to a 34-ball half century that included three sixes. “He was the dominant force for us,” said Shaun Udal. He took the game away from Surrey.” He was ably supported by Dawid Malan, who was the pick of Middlesex's bowlers with 1 for 17 from his four overs of leg-spin that started with a maiden. Malan was caught and bowled by Schofield for 38 from 35 balls, which included three fours and a six after a century partnership.

Shah finished unbeaten on 61 from 41 balls, but Tyron Henderson finished the job with 14 from just 6 balls, including a six and two fours that included the winning boundary off Tim Linley, but Middlesex's sudden discovery of form and momentum has come late – far too late, although Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals will no doubt have paid close attention. “There is a lot of cricket ahead of us, but the championship is definitely our priority,” said Udal. Shah was deservedly named man of the match.