A remarkable innings from Andrew Strauss was the difference between the two sides at the Brit Insurance Oval this afternoon as Middlesex went to victory in the London derby.

Strauss carried his good form from England’s tour of New Zealand into this afternoon’s opening Friends Provident Trophy match, to score a brilliant 163 from only 130 balls to guide his side to the huge total of 325 from 50 overs.

Mark Butcher won the toss and chose to field first and Surrey got off to a good start when Jade Dernbach bowled Ed Smith in the fourth over. Strauss survived a few streaky moments early on, but soon got going to strike the ball consistently cleanly.

With a short boundary on the gas holder side of the Brit Insurance Oval, today’s match was always going to be a high scoring affair. The Brown Caps worked very hard in the field and did well to contain Ed Joyce, who was at the opposite end to Strauss. The pair put on 143 before Chris Schofield, who bowled his ten allotted overs very economically, took a smart catch to remove the left-handed Joyce.

Strauss then hit the accelerator and raced the Crusaders up past 200 and in the process bringing up his century. With nine overs still remaining when the centurion was dismissed, bowled by Chris Jordan, Surrey pushed hard to contain the Middlesex batsman, who should have had a score well in excess of 320 in sight.

It was only thanks to Owais Shah’s breezy 55 from 56 balls and a cameo from former Brown Cap Tim Murtagh that the visitors ended up with 315.

In reply, Surrey started brightly through James Benning and Scott Newman with the opening pair racing the score to 50 after just seven overs. This tempo was to continue until Benning was bowled by a Danny Evans effort ball, when he was just three short of his half century. Only two deliveries later the home side lost Mark Ramprakash, caught at long leg, with the score stuttering on 89.

Newman and Butcher ensured that the momentum was not lost for too long, with the Surrey skipper in particular knocking the ball into the gaps with confidence.

Newman brought up his half century but when he had taken his side past 150 he fell lbw to the off-spin of Shaun Udal. With the required run rate creeping up, Surrey started to hit the fielders rather than the gaps and lost wickets. Usman Afzaal was the first of four wickets that fell for only 14 runs, with Butcher, Chris Schofield and Chris Jordan following, leaving the score 187 for seven.

A short rain break and very gloomy overhead conditions conspired to make the already difficult equation almost impossible. With six overs remaining Surrey required 80 for victory but when Batty was bowled for 21 – the result was a formality.

Chris Lewis hit a few lusty blows to reach 33 but when he was caught in the deep the game was all but over. Dernbach was the last man out, giving Middlesex victory by 58 runs.

To see the highlights of this match on Surrey TV, click here.

To see the scoredcard from this macth, click here.

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