For so long the whipping boys of Twenty20 cricket, Middlesex have been the most successful side this summer. This win, their fourth out of four, all but guaranteed their qualification for the quarter-finals and was only their second in nine attempts against Surrey in the competition.

Although they lost both openers in the first two overs, Middlesex never looked like falling short of a target of 142. Eoin Morgan and Ed Joyce crashed 45 in five overs for the third wicket, with the former England one-day batsman holding the innings together with 47 off 48 balls. Dawid Malan, the South African left-hander, saw the Crusaders home with an unbeaten 41 from 28 balls.

Surrey were denied a flyer by Dirk Nannes before the two Middlesex spinners, Shaun Udal and Murali Kartik, tied up the middle order with some intelligent variation.

Nannes surprised Scott Newman with some extra bounce in the opening over, and conceded only seven from his first two overs.

The lively Australian left-armer later came back well, being equally economical at the death, his four overs costing just 14 runs.

He had Mark Ramprakash brilliantly caught on the deep mid-wicket boundary in front of a pack Grand Stand by Billy Godleman.

With wickets falling regularly at the other end, James Benning could not afford to get out, kerbing his natural penchant for boundaries and having to settle instead for ones and twos. When he eventually reached his 50 in the final over from 53 balls, the PA announcer revealed he had hit only two fours, prompting Benning to shake his head as if chiding himself. In truth, he had been pinned down by some excellent Middlesex bowling.

Middlesex, if they win their group and qualify for a home quarter-final, will not be able to use Lord's for the match as the first Test against South Africa takes place that same week. Vince Codrington, the chief executive, said that it would be a nice problem for the club to have to solve, with either Southgate or, more likely, Uxbridge the favourite to stage the encounter. Ironically, Middlesex have now won six consecutive games in all cricket since 108 disgruntled members presented a signed petition at the end of last month to protest against the club's slow start to the campaign. Codrington was obliged to call an SGM, which seems likely to be held on July 22, by which time Middlesex could have qualified for the finals day of the Twenty20 cup.

Scoreboard
Surrey
S A Newman c Scott b Nannes 0
J G E Benning not out 50
C J Jordan c Morgan b Kartik 31
U Afzaal c Joyce b Udal 11
Abdul Razzaq c Morgan b Murtagh 15
A D Brown c Morgan b Murtagh 10
*M R Ramprakash c Godleman b Nannes 6
J N Batty c Joyce b Henderson 2
M N W Spriegel not out 0
Extras (lb 7, w 7, nb 2) 16
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 141
P T Collins and J W Dernbach did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-61, 3-79, 4-103, 5-121, 6-134, 7-136.
Bowling: Nannes 4-0-14-2; Murtagh 4-0-43-2; Henderson 4-0-28-1; Kartik 4-0-27-1; Udal 4-0-22-1.
Middlesex
A J Strauss b Dernbach 4
B A Godleman lbw b Collins 2
E J G Morgan c Brown b Razzaq 26
*E C Joyce c Ramprakash b Razzaq 47
T Henderson b Razzaq 8
D J Malan not out 41
B J M Scott not out 10
Extras (lb 3, w 3) 6
Total (5 wkts, 19 overs) 144
S D Udal, T J Murtagh, M Kartik and D P Nannes did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-7, 3-52, 4-63, 5-120.
Bowling: Collins 4-0-33-1; Dernbach 3-0-20-1; Jordan 4-0-27-0; Razzaq 4-0-30-3; Spriegel 4-0-31-0.
Umpires: V A Holder and N A Mallender.