GLOUCESTERSHIRE V SURREY at Lord's (Royal London One-Day Cup Final), 19 SEPTEMBER 2015

As with the final of the T20 Blast, this season's final of the Royal London One-Day Cup will see two County Championship Division Two sides do battle. Surrey have previously been involved in ten Lord's showpieces. Although their record stands at won five, lost five, the Oval outfit have triumphed in each of their last three - against Kent in 1997, Gloucestershire in 2001 and Somerset in 2011.

Gloucestershire's strength currently lies in their batting, but not just in the shape of Michael Klinger, whose record of 531 runs at an average of 132.75 in this year's Royal London speaks for itself so loudly Surrey simply cannot allow the 35-year-old Australian to play himself in tomorrow.

Taking Klinger out of the equation early is by no means the only objective facing Gareth Batty's men. Hamish Marshall's unbeaten 78 in the semi-final - in tandem with Klinger, who finished 137 not out - was also instrumental in Gloucestershire's eight-wicket victory over Yorkshire, which they achieved with more than three overs to spare.

Furthermore there's Benny Howell, who is averaging 48.50 in this format - but that should come as no surprise to those of us who witnessed his 122 for Hampshire against Surrey at Whitgift School in 2011 - not to mention Gareth Roderick (37.11) and Geraint Jones (42.00), for whom tomorrow will be the former Kent and England keeper-batsman's swansong.

With the ball, Howell (15 RLODC wickets at 26.06 runs apiece) and left-arm seamer David Payne (15 scalps at 33.40) provide the breakthroughs for Gloucestershire while the spinners Tom Smith and Jack Taylor are relied upon to deliver the control. But if the Bristolians are to cause an upset, they could really do with a stunning performance for one or both of James Fuller and Liam Norwell.

Steven Davies (496), Kumar Sangakkara (429) and Jason Roy (400) are all closing in on 500 runs in this year's Royal London One-Day Cup. Of the Gloucestershire contingent, Chris Dent requires another 79 for 1,000 List A career runs, while David Payne will start with 96 List A career wickets.

Zafar Ansari (dislocation to the left thumb) is ruled out and now faces a race against time to be ready for England's Test series against Pakistan in the UAE next month. Having been passed fit, James Burke (back) and Jade Dernbach (calf) are both named in Surrey's 14-man squad, as is T20 specialist Azhar Mahmood, who could well be the one to benefit from Ansari's desperately ill-timed misfortune.

In head-to-head terms, Surrey have won three out of the last four one-day meetings between the two sides. Gloucestershire's only losses in this year's RLODC came in their last two group games, one of which was against Surrey, who edged home by 12 runs thanks primarily to Jade Dernbach's 3-45. If Dernbach features, both he and Tom Curran will be key; not only in terms of accounting for Michael Klinger before he does too much damage, but also those lower down the order for Gloucestershire, like Howell, who are more than capable of rising to the occasion.

But, clearly, the toss is absolutely crucial at this stage of the season. Nine of the captains winning the toss prior to the last 12 Lord's finals have elected to bowl first. Given the combination of the 10.30 start and the rain we've been having, I'll be amazed if that doesn't become ten out of 13. So, for my prediction... If Surrey win the toss and bowl first, the Cup will be heading over the Thames to the Oval. But if Gloucestershire bowl first, it could well need all 100 overs to decide this one.

C Dent, M Klinger (capt), G Roderick (wk), H Marshall, B Howell, G Jones, J Taylor, J Fuller, T Smith, L Norwell and D Payne.

Rob Bailey and Nick Cook.

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