Adam Hollioake led the Surrey Lions to victory in every respect last night, in front of a 7,500 Wednesday evening crowd at the AMP Oval; his five wickets for 43 causing the Hampshire Hawks to collapse to 192 all out after the home side had compiled an imposing total.

It was the Surrey captain’s fifth five-wicket haul in 134 one-day league appearances. The 70-run victory puts the Lions on the same number of points as the Northamptonshire Steelbacks, who are second in Division Two of the Norwich Union League by virtue of a superior net run rate and have the advantage of two games in hand.

Hollioake, who took a fearful blow on the left shoulder in the tenth over of Hampshire’s reply, brought himself on in the 25th and immediately claimed the wicket of John Francis. Francis, who would have been caught behind via his right foot had Alan Whitehead referred Mushtaq Ahmed’s appeal in the 22nd over to the third umpire, was the first of two caught and bowled victims for the Surrey skipper.

The other came eight overs later when Jimmy Adams - no, not that Jimmy Adams, but a 21-year-old left-hander from Loughborough University - gave Adam Hollioake a hard and low one to hold on to. With Mushtaq Ahmed having just accounted for Will Kendall at deep mid-wicket, at the start of his second spell of one for five in four overs, there was no way back after that for the Hawks.

It mattered little that Tim Murtagh put down Dimitri Mascarenhas early on. The tall all-rounder was yorked in Hollioake’s sixth over, which also saw the departure of Shaun Udal, bowled middle and off. Lawrence Prittipaul became the Surrey captain’s fifth victim when he was last out in the 42nd over and the largely partisan crowd went home with a spring in their step.

The Lions’ total of 262 was built on an opening stand of 76 in 13 overs between Ian Ward and Alistair Brown. In the fourth over Brown lifted James Tomlinson serenely over the leg-side boundary. Five overs later Ward straight drove Mascarenhas for six before being caught at slip off the same bowler. Alistair Brown was on the point of reaching his eighth score of fifty or more this term when he was caught on the deep square leg boundary off the bowling of James Hamblin.

Mark Ramprakash and Scott Newman then added 82 in 18 overs. Newman hit attractive fours in successive overs from Hamblin, but then Surrey went ten overs in which they only scored one more boundary. Both players fell in the 36th over. The left-hander skied a catch to deep square leg for a career best 37 off 56 balls. Mark Ramprakash then reached fifty for the seventh time in eight one-day innings and promptly got out to a top-edged pull that looped to extra cover.

Mushtaq Ahmed hit a bright and breezy sixteen, which included a short-arm jab over long-on for six off Tomlinson, before drilling a ball from Neil Johnson to short extra cover. With three wickets in two overs Johnson had seemingly ripped out the Lions’ middle order, but when Nadeem Shahid hit him for two fours in an over Will Kendall brought back Prittipaul, who rapidly went for two sixes - one each from Shahid and Hollioake - before Adam Hollioake holed out at deep square leg going for another.

The sixth wicket pair had added 48 in 29 balls and despite the last five Surrey wickets falling in the space of four overs for fourteen runs - with Dimitri Mascarenhas picking up three - the home side still managed to post their second highest total of the season in the Norwich Union League.

The visitors were in touch, more or less, until the nineteenth over when Murtagh induced an inside edge from Neil Johnson, which cannoned into his off stump. The Zimbabwean top-scored with 44 off 53 balls.

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