Surrey did not have the good fortune to be saved by the weather two days running. After labouring for 45 overs on a slow pitch, the rain arrived in the interval to give both sides some early practice for the Twenty20 Cup, which starts this coming weekend. Glamorgan, needing a revised 94 to win in fifteen, achieved their objective with almost half their overs to spare. It was a similar story at The Oval back in April.

Last year, when Surrey won by eight runs at Cardiff to lift the title, a total of 197 for eight would have been enough for victory, but the Lions no longer have the bearing of champions and, if anything, the weather probably did their Net Run Rate a slight favour. Nevertheless, at minus 16.45 it still rates as the worst in Division One of the totesport League, which appears to be Glamorgan’s for the taking and for the Lions to prop up.

Despite their injury woes the visitors showed just two changes from the side that scraped a rain-affected draw against Worcestershire in the County Championship on Saturday, while, for the Welshmen, Michael Powell returned after a spell with the England squad. Thanks to an opening stand of 90 in less than eight overs between Robert Croft and Ian Thomas he was not needed.

Croft, who struck 46 off just 25 balls, including seven consecutive boundaries and nine in all, had earlier taken three for 34 after Surrey had won the toss and elected to bat.

Andrew Davies, who collected four for 29 when the two sides met at the start of the season, also picked up three wickets. The 27-year-old accounted for Brown and Ramprakash in successive deliveries before returning after receiving treatment to clean up Batty, who recorded his third half-century in the totesport League in five innings despite earlier lobbing up a chance to third man.

Robert Croft’s haul included the scalps of Butcher, who made his second duck in as many one-day innings this season, and Scott Newman, whose 43 at almost a run a ball included six boundaries but ended disappointingly.

Surrey would have been facing a very early trip east had it not been for a stand of 55 in fourteen overs between their captain and former captain – Jonathan Batty and Adam Hollioake – in which the latter launched David Harrison for six over square leg.

Hollioake was caught at long on, but Batty found useful allies in Ian Salisbury and Tim Murtagh, who made an intelligent 27 off 33 balls. However, on the evidence of what followed the visitors would have needed an another fifty on the board to have even come close to challenging a rampant Dragons side.

With 21 runs coming in the third over and 22 in the fourth, the hosts were soon 57 without loss. Philip Sampson, who claimed the wicket of the Glamorgan skipper off a top-edged pull, was the only Surrey bowler to have any real success in the face of the onslaught, which was all over in forty minutes.

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