An explosive opening over from Zaheer Khan to follow up Scott Newman’s maiden one-day hundred – the highest score by a Surrey batsman against Essex in the one-day league – set the home side on course for their first success in any competition this season. It may not have been achieved with as much ease as perhaps it should, but the beleaguered Lions will not be all that concerned. A win is a win.

Newman made 106 off 104 balls, including 15 fours and a six over long-off off the bowling of Andy Clarke. But for sheer impact Zaheer Khan’s entrance into county cricket takes some beating. The Indian left-arm seamer splayed Will Jefferson’s off and middle stumps with his first ball and pinned the promising Alistair Cook on the crease with his sixth.

The Surrey bowlers have struggled to control the white ball in this season’s totesport League, especially when new, and yesterday proved no exception as nine wides came in the first ten overs of the visitors’ reply. When Zaheer was wided twice in his two-over comeback spell Jonathan Batty had little option but to remove him from the attack. With the cut-off time of 7.10pm fast approaching, Adam Holloake and Alistair Brown were called upon. As it turned out their introduction put to an end any chance Essex had of causing an unlikely upset.

Despite conceding a trio of boundaries in his opening over Jimmy Ormond picked up his first three wickets in one-day cricket this year. The first was that of Mark Pettini, just as the 20-year-old appeared to be cutting loose. Martin Bicknell, making his 200th one-day league appearance, bowled right through his allotted nine overs and succeeded in breaking up a partnership of 59 in nine between Flower and Napier.

But the alliance between Andy Flower and Paul Grayson, worth 64 in ten overs, for the Eagles’ fifth wicket was the one that really had the Lions vexed for a while. Hollioake had a hand in the vital wickets of both. First he had Grayson caught low down in front of short extra cover. Then, he took a brilliant catch himself, at point, off a full-blooded cut stroke from Flower. Other than Clarke opening his account with a six and a four off the bowling of Brown, the visitors did not put up much of a fight after the departure of the former Zimbabwe captain, who made 70 in 104 deliveries, including 6 fours.

Having curiously been inserted by stand-in Eagles skipper Paul Grayson, the home side made their highest total in limited-overs this year. It was built around a partnership of 104 in nineteen overs between Newman and Batty, which was just one run short of Surrey’s record for the fourth wicket against Essex in the National League, set by David Ward and Adam Hollioake at Colchester in 1994.

Batty, who was dropped at second slip off Graham Napier before getting off the mark, also recorded a one-day career best – 66 in 73 deliveries including eleven fours, many of which seemed either to be swept fine or caressed through extra cover.

It came after Alistair Brown had lofted a catch to deep mid-off, Napier had handed Mark Ramprakash his first duck in limited-overs cricket since joining Surrey in 2001 and Rikki Clarke had chopped the ball on to his stumps to leave the home side 78 for three in the thirteenth over.

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