Mark Ramprakash's fourth century of the season, his third in this year's Friends Provident Trophy and the seventeenth of his one-day career, followed by Chris Schofield's mesmerising 5-32 with the ball ensured that the Brown Caps took the spoils in front of a Tuesday crowd swelled by over five thousand children and teachers, following Surrey's initiative of sending free tickets to the match to nearly one hundred local schools.

Sussex, assured of a quarter-final place following their victory over Yorkshire on Monday, chose to field a weakened side, but, as the Brown Caps showed yesterday, when they are on song they are a match for any team in the country. One thing Surrey do seem to lack, however, is the ability to come up with the goods under pressure - when the two sides met at Hove, the Sharks won by just two runs - but once Ramprakash had struck 102 off 94 balls, including five sixes and five fours, the pressure was as good as off.

Having lost the toss and been inserted by their guests, the Brown Caps did not make the best of starts with Scott Newman going in the third over, pinned on the crease by Yasir Arafat. But after over an hour and a half was lost to rain and the subsequent mopping up operation Ramprakash and Michael Brown gave their side a foothold, in a contest reduced to 39 overs per side, with a second wicket partnership of 75 in fifteen overs.

In successive overs from Chad Keegan, Ramprakash pulled the former Middlesex seamer for six, but in the 18th over, Brown was caught and bowled off a leading edge by Will Beer; who was arguably the pick of the Sussex attack and somewhat hard done by not to have been backed to bowl a full allocation.

Usman Afzaal then joined forces with Ramprakash. Over the next fifteen overs the pair shared in an 89-run stand, which, for the first seven overs failed to produce a boundary. After Ramprakash had brought up his fifty in 57 deliveries, Afzaal angled Rory Hamilton-Brown's off-spin down to the rope at third man. In the next over, the 26th, the stand-in Surrey captain despatched Beer over mid-off for four.

Ramprakash then tucked into Chris Nash, hitting him straight down the ground for two sixes in the space of three balls. Nash was replaced at the Vauxhall End by Arafat, but, with the Pakistan all-rounder overstepping, Ramprakash deposited the resulting free-hit in the middle tier of the OCS Stand.

Having been forced to play second fiddle, Afzaal lost patience in the 30th over and holed out to long-off. Following another, much shorter, delay for rain, Ramprakash went to three figures, off 92 balls, by hitting Corey Collymore straight back past umpire Steve Garratt for four.

To Sussex's relief, Ramprakash was run out in the 33rd over after being called through by Matthew Spriegel for a risky single to extra cover. Having lost Ramprakash when set, there was a danger of the Surrey innings petering out, but Spriegel kept the momentum going, aided by Grant Elliott.

The fifth wicket pair added 43 in just five overs, thanks to Spriegel despatching Keegan either side of long-off in the 34th over and some clean hitting from the New Zealander. But, in the 38th over, Keegan had his first of two late successes when Elliott skied a catch to gully. Spriegel, who was dropped at the wicket off Hamilton-Brown, when 18, went in the next over when Nash got underneath a lofted catch to extra cover.

Despite the loss of Ed Joyce in the first over of their reply, Sussex looked to be in contention while Joe Gatting and Nash were together. But from being 58-1 in the eleventh over the Sharks subsided to 89-5 in the sixteenth, starting with the loss of Nash, who was LBW, sweeping, to Schofield, who very nearly bettered his career best one-day bowling figures.

In the 13th over, Gatting picked out the man on the fence at backward square leg. Two overs later Carl Hopkinson was bowled around his legs. Arafat became Schofield's fourth victim, when he was caught at extra cover off a leading edge in the 19th over. Hamilton-Brown made it five for the former England leg-spinner when he charged at him in the 21st.

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