After the euphoria of the Twenty20 Cup, Surrey got back to bread and butter of limited-overs cricket – the National Cricket League – yesterday, but at the end of the day a cursory glance at the Division One table showed that things have not been going as swimmingly for the one time NCL leaders of late.

With the Worcestershire Royals inflicting a second successive competition defeat upon the Lions, Adam Hollioake’s men have now slipped to second place. To add a bit of spice to Tuesday week’s day/night encounter at the AMP Oval, lying just ahead of Surrey are the Gloucestershire Gladiators, who will be looking to avenge their Twenty20 semi-final loss.

Injuries to Azhar Mahmood (hamstring), Graham Thorpe (back spasms) and Ian Ward (groin) saw a different looking Lions side take on the Royals. The inclusion of Jonathan Batty, who was struck on helmet by successive balls from Middlesex’s Ashley Noffke on Saturday was one piece of good news, though.

Curiously, all three of Surrey’s defeats this year have come when Adam Hollioake has won the toss. Despite the home side not having won a one-day game batting second at Guildford since 1993, a damp pitch encouraged the Surrey skipper to insert the opposition on this occasion.

Martin Bicknell and Jimmy Ormond got their side off to an excellent start by reducing Worcestershire to 18 for two when Anurag Singh was caught at third man and Vikram Solanki played on. But Ben Smith’s unbeaten 93 from 122 balls – the Worcestershire captain’s highest one-day score of the season – ensured that the visitors set their hosts a challenging, if modest target of 220.

In partnership with the South African all-rounder Andrew Hall, Smith helped add 87 in 21 overs for the fourth wicket before Hall was brilliantly caught just inside the mid-wicket boundary.

In response, Surrey were never at the races. After the early loss of Alistair Brown and Mark Ramprakash, both for four, things went from bad to worse when their youngsters Scott Newman, James Benning and Rikki Clarke fell shortly afterwards.

Kabir Ali and Matt Mason each took four wickets as the home side were dismissed for their lowest one-day total at Guildford since 1982. Ali enjoyed an opening spell of four for 23 in five overs. He had Brown and Ramprakash edging, Newman caught off a leading edge at cover and Benning claimed at deep backward point.

Clarke, having just pull Mason for six, was then caught attempting the same shot to the very next ball and when Hollioake departed to a catch at deep cover for 33, to make it 99 for eight in the 24th over, there was no way back for the home side.

Saqlain Mushtaq made an entertaining 27 not out, but the result confirmed the belief held by many that Worcestershire are more than good enough to sit alongside the likes of the Oval outfit in the top flight of the County Championship next season.

During the break between innings Surrey’s Jimmy Ormond was awarded his county cap. The 25-year-old seamer, who moved from Grace Road to the Oval at the beginning of 2002, has now taken 95 first-class wickets at an average of 29.69 in twenty-four matches for his new club.

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