A superb spell of spin bowling from Middlesex’s Tom Smith 3 for 16 from his four overs ripped the heart out of Surrey’s batting. The Lions limped to 120 for 8 from their twenty overs. It never looked enough. The Panthers mauled them, winning by seven wickets with two overs to spare.

Middlesex’s captain Neil Dexter anchored their response with a magnificent unbeaten 62 from 57 balls with 8 boundaries, although Stewart Walters will rue dropping an easy catch on the boundary when Dexter was on 33. Bagging Owais Shah for 32 proved scant reward, especially when defending such a meagre target.

121 was far too low a target and the defeat leaves Surrey requiring huge wins from their remaining fixtures to maintain any further interest in the competition. Meanwhile, former champions Middlesex secured a valuable confidence-booster to continue their challenge for a quarter-final place that had seemed unlikely a few hours earlier.

Lions Fail to Roar:

Surrey wicket-keeper Gary Wilson came in at the fall of Younis Khan’s wicket. At 62 for 6 with the top of the order dismissed cheaply, Surrey was in danger of committing two cardinal sins – failing to bat out their full twenty overs and not even making a hundred on a pitch that was far from  unplayable against a bowling attack that would not instil fear into most line-ups. Wilson ensured that sin as Surrey did, they were not the unforgivable variety.

They started badly and steadily deteriorated from there. Mark Ramprakash was run out for 0 going out for a suicidal run to extra cover that Rory Hamilton-Brown understandably had no interest in. Not even Ramprakash’s despairing dive could beat Gareth Berg’s throw. 6 for 1 became 6 for 2 as Jason Roy went for a two-ball duck, caught behind by Ben Scott. Former Surrey bowler Tim Murtagh took the wicket.

Hamilton-Brown led a counter attack with former Pakistan captain Younis Khan, but Surrey’s young captain perished as Ramprakash had previously – ran out by Berg for 20, which included a six and a four, but 30 for 3 and the power-play over represented serious trouble for Surrey in a match both teams need to win to progress further.

Stewart Walters could not help his team, departing in bizarre fashion. He trod on his wicket in Tom Smith’s first over for a single. It would become a match he would want to forget rapidly as his fielding was also below par. That brought the overseas players together as Andrew Symonds joined Khan with Surrey in need of a partnership from the experienced pair.

Symonds soon took a liking to Middlesex’s captain Neil Dexter’s bowling – taking 14 from his first three balls, including a first-ball six. A straight drive and leg glance brought two more boundaries before a sedate single ensured that he retained the strike. Smith removed the dangerous Symonds for 19, bowling him.

59 for 5 became 62 for 6 in the same over as Khan presented an easy return catch to Smith. Khan was second top-scorer with a meagre 21. Smith finished with an excellent 3 for 16 from his 4 overs. Surrey badly needed a partnership. The closest thing came for the seventh wicket. Matthew Spriegel and Gary Wilson attempted to repair the damage, but Spriegel holed out to Scott Newman for 16, giving Dexter a wicket.

Wilson fought hard to try to set a competitive target. Chris Schofield fell at 115 for 5, caught at deep square-leg by Dexter in the final over, which was bowled by Tyron Henderson. Wilson was left unbeaten on 35, having hit a six and four fours. 120 for 8 looked several runs short and a number 8 batsman being top-scorer was simply not good enough at this level.

Response:

His three overs were expensive – 3 cost 26 runs, but Dexter helped himself to two boundaries from Chris Tremlett’s opening over on his way to a match-winning unbeaten half-century. André Nel responded by inducing an edge from Australian opener, David Warner, that was safely pouched by Wilson. Warner was out for just 1 in the second over, but that was almost as good as it got for the Lions.

Shah and Dexter repaired the damage with a fifty partnership in less than eight overs, with four boundaries each. It should have ended on 63, but Walters misjudged Dexter’s pull, was hit on the forehead and conceded a boundary as well. After his careless dismissal that compounded his misery.

He made amends in the next over as Spriegel opened his second over by breaking the partnership, which was worth 65 runs. Shah was caught in the outfield for 32 by Walters. Dawid Malan made 4, caught by Schofield off Spriegel, but Dexter reached his half century at better than a run per ball. Spriegel finished with 2 for 25 and Nel with 1 for 20, while Tremlett’s four overs were expensive, costing 34 and Symonds’ 2 overs yielded 20 runs without success.

Dexter’s magnificent innings left Surrey requiring a miracle – limiting the visitors to less than ten from three overs. The miracle never came and the Lions were booed off – a sad way to end their matches at home.