Apart from when Pro40 games are shown live on television, man of the match awards are not handed out in this competition. Even when they are, they usually seem to go to a member of the winning team, but Riki Wessels' maiden one-day century, at the Brit Oval yesterday, might well have provided an exception to that rule. When Wessels and David Sales were putting on 107 in fifteen overs for the fourth wicket it looked as though Surrey were throwing away their advantage by persevering with new signing Robert Frylinck, a 23-year-old all-rounder who plays for KwaZulu-Natal.

After his first four overs went for 35, Frylinck, whom the Brown Caps have signed as a Kolpak player until the end of the season, eventually yielded to Chris Jordan. Jordan was immediately pulled for six, then taken for two successive fours by Wessels. But in the teenager's next over, the 19th, Sales cut the ball high to deep cover where Stewart Walters claimed the second of three catches. With the dangerous Lance Klusener going for nought in the next over, chopping on to Matthew Spriegel, Northants needed an almost impossible 154 to win off twenty overs with four wickets in hand; or five if Nicky Boje, who pulled a hamstring in the field, was minded to bat.

Surrey duly recorded only their second home win of the season with four overs to spare thanks, strangely enough, to Frylinck's comeback spell of 4-0-17-3. But, most of all, the Brown Caps owed their shift in fortunes to Walters, who grew steadily in confidence to make 91 off 83 balls - his highest score in all competitions for the Oval outfit - after the hosts were put into bat.

Walters, in alliance with James Benning, overcame the early loss of Scott Newman, who was bowled off his pads by Johann Louw in the second over. Walters was fidgety to begin with, handing much of the strike to Benning, who raced to his first one-day score in excess of fifty since May 8, in just 41 deliveries. But after Benning went, caught behind off Andrew Hall in the sixteenth over, Walters took control.

Walters's fifty, which came off 55 balls, included six fours, to which two sixes and four fours were added over the next ten overs before Jason Brown beat him in the flight.

After Surrey took 100 off the last 12 overs to rack up their highest one-day total against the Steelbacks, the visitors were soon in even deeper trouble with Stephen Peters, Rob White and Niall O'Brien all going cheaply.

Peters and White both fell to Nicholson without scoring. Peters was caught by Jonathan Batty in front of first slip off the fifth ball of the Northants reply. Two overs later, White skied a pull to Walters who made no mistake after running in off the rope at deep square leg. When O'Brien, playing back, was pinned on the crease by Dernbach in the fourth over, it looked as though Surrey were going to stroll to victory. However, nobody had not reckoned on Wessels.

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