WALTERS LEADS SURREY TO FIRST WIN by Marcus Hook
Surrey Brown Caps 156-2 (20.4 Overs) v Glamorgan Dragons 189-5 (37 Overs). Surrey Brown Caps win by 8 wickets (D/L Method).

Last night, an unbeaten 58-ball 67 from Stewart Walters carried Surrey to their first success in this season's NatWest Pro40 League, not to mention their first victory under Walters's fledgling tenure as captain. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Glamorgan made 189-5 before rain curtailed their innings. But that was put into perspective when the Brown Caps won with 20 balls remaining to move ahead of the Dragons, albeit at the wrong end of Division Two.

With Surrey initially needing a Duckworth-Lewis target of 174 in 28 overs, under lights, Walters despatched Ryan Watkins's first two balls through the off-side for four. In the next over, Michael Brown pulled James Harris over the fence at deep fine leg for six. With Brown hitting three fours in Garnett Kruger's opening over, the home side found themselves 59 without loss after six overs, whereupon the rain made its second prolonged appearance.

When the teams came back out, the Brown Caps required just a further 94 off 18 overs with all ten wickets intact. Brown was lbw attempting a reverse sweep in the eighth over, Robert Croft's first. But Walters started the ninth by cutting Jim Allenby through cover point for four and, two overs later, he swatted Dean Cosker over wide mid-on for two consecutive boundaries to make it 87-1.

It was then all eyes on Mark Ramprakash, who started watchfully before forcing Cosker to the long-off boundary in the 13th. Two overs later, the former Middlesex man danced down the pitch and hit the 31-year-old slow left-armer back over his head for a maximum before sweeping him for four and then drilling the ball back to Cosker, who held on to a stinging catch off his own bowling.

Walters brought up his fifty, off 44 deliveries, in the 17th over. In spite of the Glamorgan spinners getting the ball to turn appreciably, Walters slog swept Jamie Dalrymple over straight mid-wicket for six in the 19th over, to leave the Brown Caps needing just sixteen more off 35 balls for victory.

Earlier, Surrey's new-ball pair had trouble controlling the white ball initially, with four wides coming in the first four overs. The fifth over saw Will Bragg cut Jade Dernbach over point before driving the 23-year-old straight down the ground for a second successive boundary.

With Bragg angling the ball either side of the Surrey wicketkeeper, Gary Wilson, for consecutive fours off Pedro Collins, to end the sixth over, the visitors were 38-0 and Dernbach was nursing figures of 3-0-22-0.

Bragg brought up the Dragons' fifty in the ninth over when he whipped Tim Linley to the rope at long leg. But, three overs later, the 22-year-old left-hander dragged Stuart Meaker on to his stumps. When the fielding restrictions were lifted, the visitors were 66-2, having just lost Gareth Rees, who skied a leading edge off Linley to cover.

Allenby, making his Glamorgan debut, brought the hundred up for his side in the 21st over by on-driving Linley for four. Two balls later, however, the former Leicestershire all-rounder top edged a slog sweep high to mid-wicket to give Meaker his second catch and Linley one-day career best figures of 2-38.

Tom Maynard swept Chris Schofield's first delivery for four, but in the following over, the 24th, the 20-year-old presented Matthew Spriegel with a simple return catch to make it 116-4. Two overs later, Spriegel might have struck again had Wilson reacted when Dalrymple, on 22, got a clear-cut edge.

With Mark Wallace employing the reverse sweep to Schofield and lifting the last ball of the 30th over, bowled by Spriegel, over extra cover for four the 150 came up inside 31 overs.

Dalrymple posted the fifty stand for the fifth wicket by driving Meaker through extra cover for four to end the 33rd over. But in the next over the Glamorgan captain holed out to wide long-off for 39.

Had Wallace and Watkins not taken 18 runs off what proved to be the last two overs of the visitors' innings, the match would have turned out to be an even more one-sided affair.

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