Gloucestershire totally outclassed Surrey at Bristol yesterday to take an early lead in Group C of the Friends Provident Trophy, the competition they won in four times between 1999 and 2004. Despite being without the services of James Franklin and Craig Spearman, the Gladiators wrapped up victory by dismissing the Brown Caps for 140 - Surrey's lowest total against Gloucestershire in one-day cricket since 1980.

The home side were disciplined throughout, which merely served to underline their opponents' shortcomings. Having been put into bat, the Gladiators posted a challenging total thanks to half-centuries from William Porterfield and Chris Taylor, not to mention a useful cameo from Jon Lewis during the batting powerplay.

The pick of the visitors' attack, Andre Nel, accounted for Kadeer Ali, caught behind off the shoulder of the bat, in the seventh over and Hamish Marshall, cutting, with the first ball of the bowling powerplay. But from having Gloucestershire 50-2 after sixteen overs, Surrey allowed Porterfield and Gidman to take a grip on proceedings with a third wicket stand worth 96 in seventeen overs.

In the twelfth over Porterfield edged Alex Tudor between first and second slip for four, but his two successive fours square on the off-side five overs later off Chris Jordan owed nothing to good fortune. In the 22nd over, the Irishman moved to a run a ball fifty with boundaries drilled past mid-off off Tudor and over the bowler's head off Chris Schofield.

Meanwhile, Alex Gidman appeared to be easing himself into a long stay at the crease when he cut Jordan over gully for four in the 19th over and then forced Grant Elliott to the extra cover fence three overs later. But in the 28th over the Gloucestershire captain was adjudged leg before to become Elliott's first wicket as a Brown Cap.

Porterfield then joined forces with Taylor. Had Elliott not had the left-hander playing around a delivery on off stump in the 32nd over the hosts might have posted a huge total. Porterfield's 74 off 84 balls, which contained eight boundaries, was arguably upstaged by Taylor's 63 in 58 deliveries.

Taylor feasted on anything wide, which invariably disappeared through extra cover; though in the 36th over the 32-year-old showed his versatility by clipping Elliott through the on-side for four. David Brown got in on the act by lifting Nel over square leg for a maximum. But in the 39th over Brown perished attempting to repeat the dose against Schofield, who then trapped Steve Adshead leg before first ball.

Taylor and Lewis added a further 61 in just eight overs thanks to Surrey's overuse of the short ball. But, in the 47th over, Nel, returning to the attack, immediately had Taylor caught on the straight boundary. In the following over Lewis perished to a good catch at backward point off Jade Dernbach, who also accounted for Vikram Banerjee.

In reply, the visitors managed to find the boundary rope on just nine occasions. Michael Brown did so three times - in the fifth over when Ian Saxleby drifted on to the right-hander's legs, and in the ninth and thirteenth overs when Brown despatched Lewis and Saxleby straight down the ground.

But by that time Surrey had lost James Benning to a catch at point in the eighth over. They were also soon to lose Brown, who miscued to wide mid-on. In the very next over Mark Ramprakash, having his first outing of the season, was caught behind off Steve Kirby for a duck; although a slow motion replay later revealed that the ball had come into contact with the ground. Kirby prospered, enjoying an opening spell of 5-3-5-1.

51-3 became 53-4 when Batty was run out, the Brown Caps' stumper slipping over after sweeping the final delivery of the seventeenth over to short fine leg. Surrey knew it was not their day when Taylor pulled off a phenomenal catch at backward point off Gidman to see the back of Elliott in the 22nd over.

Jordan fell leg before to Banerjee, who also picked up the wicket of Schofield, sweeping, caught and bowled. When Tudor was caught behind by Adshead standing up to Gidman, the visitors, needing a mere 144 off fourteen overs, invoked their batting powerplay. They added just fifteen more runs before being put out of their misery. Usman Afzaal, who top-scored with 36, was the ninth Surrey batsman to depart when he hoisted Saxleby to third man in the 37th over.

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