Lord's 25 May: Surrey (186-1) beat Middlesex (129-7) by 57 runs
Having lost both of their encounters with the eventual Twenty20 Cup winners in 2008, Surrey drew first blood in the competition's first London derby of 2009, which was played at Lord's on Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday in front of smaller crowd than the fixture had attracted hitherto. The Brown Caps' impressive 57-run victory was set-up by Usman Afzaal and Mark Ramprakash's unbroken stand of 139 in fourteen overs, which established a new second wicket record in the Twenty20 Cup for the county. Afzaal, skippering the visitors in the absence of Mark Butcher - who had been out since the start of the season with a knee injury - came within a whisker of becoming the first Surrey batsman to make a hundred in 20-over cricket. His unbeaten 98 came off just 59 balls and included two successive sixes off Shaun Udal in the 13th over, the first of which brought up his half-century. Ramprakash's fifty arrived five overs later, also off 36 deliveries. Despite the early losses of Nick Compton and Neil Dexter, the Panthers were still in touch at the end of the powerplay, but lost all momentum after Billy Godleman played the first ball of the seventh over on to his stumps. Frustrated at not being able to find the boundary, Tyron Henderson departed in the tenth over, Matthew Spriegel's first, to spell the beginning of the end for Middlesex who lost three more wickets, all to the leg-spin of Chris Schofield, who picked up figures of 3-21.

Brit Oval 26 May: Sussex (184-9) beat Surrey (163-9) by 21 runs
In keeping with the Brown Caps' inconsistent form going into the 2009 Twenty20 Cup they could not follow their curtain-raising victory with a back to back win when the Sussex Sharks came to town the following day and posted the third highest total ever made against Surrey in the competition's history to that point. With Ramprakash, Newman and Benning all going in quick succession to make a hash of a decent start to the hosts' chase, it fell to Stewart Walters to get things back on track. The 25-year-old struck a quick-fire 34 in twenty deliveries, which included a six over mid-wicket off his Perth team-mate, the Sharks' skipper Michael Yardy, and three successive fours off Rory Hamilton-Brown in the next over, the twelfth of the Brown Caps' response. But it was too tall an order. With 42 needed off the last three overs and Yasir Arafat available to bowl two of them the result was in even less doubt than when Walters had come in at 72-3. Earlier, Chris Nash and Ed Joyce wasted no time vindicating Sussex's decision to bat first by putting on 53 in 4.1 overs for the opening stand. In the second over, Nash, whose 40 came off just 16 deliveries, launched Andre Nel for two sixes. Luke Wright, who top scored with 58, also recorded two maximums - the first coming in the 14th over off Usman Afzaal and the second in the 18th over off Chris Schofield, who had the consolation of accounting for Wright next ball.

Brit Oval 27 May: Surrey (125-8) beat Hampshire (124-9) by 1 run
After his side's nerve-jangling single-run victory over Hampshire the Brown Caps' elated manager, Chris Adams said: "At the start of the week if someone had said we'll give you two wins out of the three, we probably would have taken it, because that's currently where we are as a side. I thought the fielding was sensational and I thought the movement, energy and work-rate was where it should be. That was a nine out of ten performance. I'm afraid we put in a four out of ten performance with the bat, but we are getting there." If Surrey were going to defend a modest total of 125-8, they needed something special. Not for the first time, Chris Schofield came to the fore by bowling Chris Benham - who, with 39, made the highest score in the match - and by running out Jimmy Adams and Nic Pothas with direct hits from mid-on and short mid-wicket. Surrey's decision to open the bowling with off-spinner Matthew Spriegel was even more remarkable, though it soon paid dividends with Michael Lumb coming down the pitch and being stumped off the second ball of the Hawks' reply. Chris Adams said: "I have to say we took that from them. They brought a spinner on straight away and I thought it was a great tactic. That's one of the things we've been talking to the players about - how adaptable they can be in situations. Especially in Twenty20 where everything happens so quickly and you have to react, and just go with what your gut feeling says sometimes. Be brave and back yourself. We went Spriegs, go on, have it and he bowled brilliantly."

Chelmsford 29 May: Essex (169-6) beat Surrey (165-5) by 4 wickets
The first match of Surrey's 2009 Twenty20 campaign to be won by the side chasing, saw Essex scrape home with a ball to spare against the Brit Oval outfit. The turning point came when Chris Schofield dropped Ravi Bopara on 36. The England star eschewed any doubts his reprieve might have caused by bringing up his half-century with two successive sixes off Andre Nel, who conceded nearly ten runs per over and was targeted by the partisan Essex crowd; some of whom came on to the pitch and held up play at one point. Earlier, the Brown Caps' 165-5 after winning the toss owed everything to Scott Newman's unbeaten 81 off 60 balls and a quick-fire 23 from Matthew Spriegel late on. Spriegel also chipped in with the wickets of Bopara, James Foster and Ryan ten Doeschate, but when his four overs were up, Essex needed just 14 off twelve deliveries with five wickets in hand. Afterwards, the Surrey manager, Chris Adams said: "To be 86-1 after ten and then lose three wickets in eight balls just highlights we really do need to tighten up and be ruthless as a team. For it to go down to the penultimate ball just shows that these games often go down to small margins. We just have to make sure we stay in the game longer than we are at the moment. We've got to stay faithful to our plans and work really hard on being able to execute them as well."

Rose Bowl 31 May: Hampshire (191-6) beat Surrey (173-8) by 18 runs
The writing was on the wall in this contest as early as the fourth over, by which time the Hampshire openers had already put on 45. Notwithstanding two superb run outs by Jade Dernbach, from deep mid-wicket to account for Jimmy Adams (44 off 25 balls) and from backward point to spell the end for Michael Lumb, who made 54 from 31 deliveries, the home side went on to record the second highest total ever conceded by the Brown Caps in the Twenty20 Cup. Had Sean Ervine faced more than seven deliveries the hosts may well have posted a total in excess of 200, but in his brief innings the Zimbabwean hit four boundaries including a straight six off Matthew Spriegel. Any hope Surrey had of reeling in the Hawks' 191-6 were, in effect, ended when Scott Newman was beaten by Michael Carberry's throw from gully in the fifth over. Newman had lifted Hamza Riazuddin and Billy Taylor for sixes in the second and fifth overs. Mark Ramprakash also struck two maximums - straight down the ground off Liam Dawson in the 14th over and when he was caught outside the perimeter by Adams off Taylor two overs later. Ramprakash went on to make 73. Only Grant Elliott, making his final appearance for the Brown Caps, gave Ramprakash the type of support the visitors were calling for, helping to add 46 in four overs before reverse sweeping Imran Tahir to Carberry. When Ramprakash was caught at short fine leg the visitors were left needing an improbable 24 off seven balls.

Hove 22 June: Sussex (125-4) beat Surrey (123) by 6 wickets
If the writing wasn't on the wall in this contest when Surrey were dismissed for their third lowest total in the Twenty20 Cup, it certainly was by the time Murray Goodwin and Luke Wright had combined for an opening stand of 71 in ten overs. But, at one stage, the Brown Caps' final day-night fixture of the 2009 Twenty20 Cup campaign looked in danger of being called off. Just two balls into the match, the floodlights at the Sea End went out and could not be revived for nearly half an hour. When things finally got underway once again, Sussex employed four spinners and it worked a treat, asphyxiating the life out of Surrey. Michael Yardy was the pick of the Sharks' attack, with figures of 2-14 from his four overs, but Piyush Chawla came a close second, picking up the wickets of Benning and Jordan; both of whom failed to detect the Indian leg-spinner's googly. However, their job was made easier by Robin Martin-Jenkins, who accounted for Afzaal - who went to the first delivery he received - Newman and Ramprakash in his three-over spell with the new ball. It needed a brilliant catch by Dwayne Smith at backward point to see the back of Ramprakash, who had struck three fours in the previous over, the fourth, which was bowled by Wright. The visitors did not find the boundary again for ten more overs. Sussex had a slight wobble in their innings when Prior, Goodwin and Hamilton-Brown fell in successive overs, but Smith saw them to victory, which was sealed with more than three overs in the bank.

Brit Oval 24 June: Kent (168-6) beat Surrey (167) by 1 run
The Brown Caps' slim chances of qualifying for the last eight were finally killed off when they ran into Kent for the first time. Due to the Spitfires falling behind with their over-rate, Surrey were awarded six penalty runs, which meant that instead of requiring 14 off the last over, the Brown Caps' final pair only needed to score eight. Jade Dernbach took a single off the first ball, Andre Nel squeezed four runs through third man off the second, but, then, in taking a leg bye, Nel barged into the bowler Ryan McLaren. The Kent captain, Robert Key, was furious and berated both Nel and the umpire Ian Gould, claiming that the South African should have been dismissed for deliberately obstructing the field. Needing to score two off three deliveries, Dernbach then attempted a suicidal single to Justin Kemp at mid-wicket to hand the Spitfires victory by the narrowest of margins. After winning the toss, the Spitfires had raced to 91-1 in nine overs. Two overs later, Martin van Jaarsveld brought up a 30-ball half-century, but after he was caught at extra cover by Grant Elliott, who held on to four catches, Kent lost their way. With Surrey needing to make 169 on a flat pitch, Usman Afzaal overcame the early losses of Newman and Ramprakash by hitting a valiant 62. When the Brown Caps stand-in skipper departed in the 17th over, his side were left needing an unlikely 27 off three with just three wickets remaining. But the award of six penalty runs pushed the door ajar again for the Oval outfit, who, in hindsight, must have lamented being bowled out with two deliveries still to come.

Brit Oval 25 June: Essex (210-3) beat Surrey (126) by 84 runs
This match saw a number of records being established, but the only new one set by Surrey was their best tenth wicket stand in Twenty20 cricket, which helped the Brown Caps avoid the ignominy of being dismissed for less than three figures after Essex had racked up their second highest total in the Twenty20 Cup and the second highest ever conceded by Surrey. Alistair Cook became the first batsman in the history of the competition to hit a century against the Brown Caps. But his 169-run stand for the first wicket with Mark Pettini was more significant for it represented the third highest partnership for any wicket in Twenty20 Cup history. The Eagles came to life in the third over, which saw Pettini take three boundaries off Grant Elliott. The Essex skipper brought up the fifty for the visitors with a hooked six off Nel. Pettini struck three more maximums on his way to 87 in 53 deliveries. Cook also hit four sixes, including two off Matthew Spriegel in the 15th over. But the bowler to suffer most was Chris Schofield, whose four overs went for 54. Cook reached his hundred with two balls left in the innings. Ryan ten Doeschate then heaped further misery on to Surrey by depositing the final delivery into the middle tier of OCS Stand. In reply, the Brown Caps lost Newman and Benning in the second over. Mark Ramprakash and Usman Afzaal then put on 48 in five overs, but Afzaal's departure marked the beginning of a procession that was only arrested when Gary Wilson and Andre Nel added a modicum of respectability to the Surrey total.

Brit Oval 27 June: Middlesex (162-3) beat Surrey (160-5) by 7 wickets
With nothing riding on the outcome of this fixture, the Brown Caps made a number of personnel changes. Michael Brown was one of the new faces and he made the most of the opportunity to impress in front of the television cameras. The former Middlesex and Hampshire man hit a Twenty20 career best 77 in 54 deliveries, which included three successive fours in the first over, bowled by Steve Finn. In collaboration with Chris Jordan, promoted up the order, Brown helped to put on 75 in eight overs. But after Dawid Malan was introduced in the ninth over, which was a maiden, the home side found it almost impossible to locate top gear. With just eight boundaries coming off their last twelve overs, the Brown Caps' total of 160-5 was barely adequate. Andre Nel took the new ball for Surrey and it was not long before he was egging on Middlesex's Billy Godleman, but the first over ended with Nel fuming at the Brown Caps' wicketkeeper, Gary Wilson, for what he evidently felt was a lack of focus. Nevertheless, the outcome was still in the balance when Stewart Walters ran out Neil Dexter to make it 46-2 in the seventh over of the Panthers' reply. But then Owais Shah took charge. His unbeaten 61 off 41 balls included three straight sixes, two off Chris Schofield and a third off Grant Elliott. The only bowler not suffer at the hands of Shah was Tim Linley, who was making his Surrey and Twenty20 debut. Middlesex eventually cruised home with ten deliveries to spare, with Malan contributing 38 at faster than a run a ball.

Beckenham 28 June: Kent (184-7) beat Surrey (168-9) by 16 runs
The curtain came down on Surrey's woeful 2009 Twenty20 campaign at Beckenham, where the Brown Caps had won on their two previous Twenty20 visits. The inclusion of two more new faces - Laurie Evans and Simon King - helped to ensure that no personal scores spilled over from the acrimonious contest four days' earlier. Rob Key's decision to bat first meant that the winner of the toss in all ten of Surrey's Twenty20 matches in 2009 had only one thing in mind. Kent's comfortable 16-run victory saw them claim the top spot in the Brown Caps' group and a home quarter-final against Durham. Martin van Jaarsveld, who was strongly rumoured to be on Surrey's wish list for 2010, recorded his second half-century in the space of a week against the Oval outfit. The South African had a useful ally in the former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, who hit 47 off 30 balls and shared in a third wicket partnership of 96 in nine overs with van Jaarsveld before Matthew Spriegel picked up figures of 4-33. In reply, each of Surrey's top six made starts, but then got out. Michael Brown and Chris Jordan opened up to good effect once again, putting on 41 in less than four overs. Jordan was the first to go, off a leading edge. Brown went in the following over, to a catch at deep mid-on. Stewart Walters, who was captaining the visitors, was bowled playing across the line. Chris Murtagh was run out by van Jaarsveld, at mid-wicket, after having been called through for a quick single by Grant Elliott. The New Zealander perished to a catch at long-off and when Spriegel departed in the same fashion three overs from the end the outcome was no longer in doubt.

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