With Pedro Collins, who did the early damage, and Jade Dernbach, with 4-28, following up Chris Murtagh's one-day career best 74 to hand Surrey victory over Leicestershire yesterday, it proved to be an encouraging end to the Brown Caps' Pro40 League season. Their campaign began with three defeats out of the first four, but finished with the figures reversed; suggesting that should Surrey persevere with the youth policy they have employed of late the one-day arena could be where their next trophy win lies.

After winning the toss and electing to bat the Brown Caps made a decent start even though Nadeem Malik and Sam Cliff benefited from a touch of extra bounce. In the fifth over, Scott Newman launched Malik in the air to the long-on boundary, then cut the 25-year-old over backward point for four. In the tenth, however, Cliff had Newman top-edging to Matthew Boyce running in from cover.

With Murtagh and Stewart Walters putting on 64 in fifteen overs for the second wicket, it appeared as though Surrey were gearing up for a late surge. Both Walters and Murtagh were quick between the timbers and when the latter occasionally found the boundary he did so with some textbook strokeplay.

In the 25th over, Walters perished to the sweep shot, but in the next over Murtagh recorded his first fifty in one-day cricket, which came off 79 balls. The 23-year-old then helped Jigar Naik to the fine leg boundary. In the 30th over, however, Usman Afzaal, looking to force the pace, was caught at long-on off the 24-year-old off-spinner.

That brought Jonathan Batty to the crease and had the stand-in Brown Caps skipper not connected on a couple of occasions, when he lifted Lee Daggett over extra cover for six in the 36th over and deposited Claude Henderson into the pavilion in the very next over, the home side would not have set Leicestershire five an over for victory.

Murtagh was eventually bowled, looking to work Daggett to leg, and Batty - who made 40 off 30 balls - perished in the 40th over when he failed to lift the ball over the head of Joshua Cobb at mid-wicket. The consensus, however, was that 205 might not be enough to test the Foxes on what appeared to be a very good wicket.

However, with Collins striking in his first, fourth and sixth overs, Leicestershire were soon in spot of bother at 45-4. Jacques Du Toit was trapped leg before when the West Indian left-armer followed-up a wide with one that pitched in front and straightened. Five overs later, Boyce, looking to work Jade Dernbach to leg, got a leading edge to mid-off. Collins struck again when Paul Nixon nibbled at a short ball and the visitors' hopes looked dead and buried when Cobb offered a loose shot at a delivery that was angled across him.

But Greg Smith had his own agenda. The 19-year-old struck a career best 58 off 65 balls, which included eight fours, and suggested, briefly, that the result was not the formality it had seemed when the diminutive figure of James Taylor strode out to join him in the twelfth over.

The introduction of Stuart Meaker in the eleventh over allowed Smith to free his arms for the first time. He cut Meaker's first delivery for four and two balls later flicked him to the boundary at backward square leg.

Smith should have been claimed at gully off the bowling of Meaker for 22, but the resulting single took the visitors' total to fifty. Later in the same over the 19-year-old on drove Meaker for four, but it was on the off-side where Smith acquired the majority of his runs. He drove Collins to the cover boundary in the 14th over and cut Meaker for four three overs later.

Smith went to fifty in the 20th over, but departed to a thin edge in the third of Alex Tudor's solitary four over spell. Henderson kept the momentum going, however, with three boundaries off the 27th over - bowled by Lee Hodgson - after which the requirement for the Foxes was 88 off thirteen.

Two overs later, Henderson launched Meaker straight down the ground for six, but perished in the 31st over attempting to repeat the shot. But after the controlled Taylor went for 37, scooping a catch to short mid-wicket, and Malik holed out to deep mid-wicket there was only one going to be one winner.

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