Dinesh Mongia’s career best one-day bowling figures of four for 15, coming on the heels of a stylish 67 in 86 deliveries, ensured that Leicestershire broke their duck in this summer’s totesport League, sealing a comfortable 60-run victory over Surrey with nearly five overs to spare. For the visitors it was hardly the sort of performance that will fill them with confidence ahead of Tuesday’s C&G Trophy clash against Gloucestershire.

On ‘Survival Sunday’ in football’s Premiership, it was a question yesterday of whose promotion hopes would survive the contest at Grace Road. Both the Foxes and the Lions went into the game having lost each of their first three matches in the competition and the losers knew that a fourth defeat would leave them with a mountain to climb just a month into the season.

Surrey looked the more likely victors when Newman and Ramprakash were going well in the twelfth over. But the introduction of David Masters, who bowled straight through his allotted overs to claim one for sixteen, frustrated the visitors into making some catastrophic errors.

The first was Scott Newman’s decision to set off for a quick single to backward square leg off Henderson. The left-hander had not gone far before being sent back, but Aftab Habib’s direct throw just beat Newman to the line.

Rikki Clarke then cut Claude Henderson off his stumps straight to backward point and Alistair Brown, who announced himself by cracking two off-side boundaries, went at the ball too early and was bowled.

When Habib was back in the action again to pull off the catch at long-off that saw the back of Mark Ramprakash, the result was beyond any real doubt. The departure of the former Middlesex man, to the fifth ball of the 29th over, left the Surrey tail needing a challenging 94 off sixteen overs on a painfully slow Leicester pitch.

Ramprakash’s proved to be the first of four wickets to fall in the space of fifteen deliveries. Next to go was James Benning, bowled middle and off. Bicknell ballooned one to Ackerman running in from mid-wicket and, next ball, Murtagh gave an easy return catch to Maddy leaving Mongia to clean up.

Earlier, after winning the toss and electing to bat the Foxes compiled a workable total of 194 for nine thanks to a level headed half-century from Dinesh Mongia. The Indian came in after Darren Maddy had been caught behind off a delicate inside edge. Two overs later Mongia lost John Maunders who was caught behind driving at one that nipped away.

But, in partnership with his captain, the veteran of over fifty one-day internationals put on 51 in fifteen overs for Leicestershire’s third-wicket. He off drove and cut Tim Murtagh to the boundary before flicking Jimmy Ormond to square leg. Things stepped up a gear, however, when Ormond was forced to withdraw from the attack.

Ramprakash and Benning picked up the slack, but went for forty runs in five overs in overall terms. The home side then turned on Saker, who suggested that better performances lie ahead, and Murtagh, taking forty runs off the last five overs of the innings in the process.

The result means that Leicestershire have now beaten Surrey in seven out of the sides’ last eight meetings in all one-day competitions and Lions still have not managed a win in the totesport League since the end of July last year.

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