A third wicket partnership of 93 in sixteen overs from man of the match Alistair Brown and Graham Thorpe, followed by distinguished cameos with the ball from Sampson and Tudor, carried Surrey to their first one-day victory of the season over Kent.

Coming on the back of three consecutive defeats it was a welcome turn around for the Oval outfit, whose poor start in the Benson and Hedges Cup meant they had no real hope of progressing from their group going into yesterday’s encounter.

For Kent it leaves them relying on others as well as needing to beat Essex at Canterbury tomorrow. Even then it may not be enough to keep their ambitions in this competition alive.

Surrey did at least put out an almost full strength line-up. Until, that is, Salisbury, Brown and then Thorpe were forced to leave the field with injuries, which explains how Mark Ramprakash came to take the vital wicket of Key, who top scored with 59 off 91 balls in a below par batting display from the Sunday League champions.

Kent, who inflicted the only defeat suffered by Surrey in last season’s Benson and Hedges Cup, were always behind after losing Fleming to the first ball of the reply and Hockley soon afterwards.

Robert Key and Ed Smith managed to add 56 for the third wicket, but their lack of urgency left David Fulton and Matthew Walker - who combined for 59 - to do all the hitting. Walker, who finished unbeaten on 41, eventually ran out of partners in the 46th over as Alex Tudor, Philip Sampson and James Ormond shared the other nine wickets to fall.

Sampson’s return of three for 42 was a one-day best. After settling in he had Smith caught at point, Symonds swishing across the line and Fulton beaten for pace.

Earlier Alistair Brown, promoted in the Surrey order, struck 73 off 58 balls, including four boundaries in one over from Amjad Khan plus a six over extra cover when the Dane was re-introduced nine overs later. He finally perished when Andrew Symonds, who was Kent’s most successful bowler with three for 47, caused him to sky a catch to Paul Nixon.

Graham Thorpe - who withdrew merely as a precaution - was more watchful, making 61 in 76 deliveries on his first appearance of the season. Apart from being dropped at slip on eleven, he showed no sign of cobwebs, which was welcome news for England on the day James Foster broke his arm.

Surrey were 154 for three after thirty overs, but could not maintain the blistering pace set by Brown. In the next over Nadeem Shahid was caught at mid-on only to be followed by Thorpe, who tried to guide the ball to third man. After that Matthew Fleming and James Tredwell applied the brakes and appeared to do enough to keep their side in the game.

Of the wicketkeepers, Paul Nixon finished with three catches, but could have had more if two sharp chances not gone to ground while he was standing up to the seamers. Alec Stewart did not get so much as a sniff, but with innings of 99 and 96 so far in first-class cricket that should not prevent him benefiting from Foster’s misfortune.

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