NOT every Twenty20 Cup match can be a sun-kissed affair. At Lord’s, maybe, but not at the Oval. The rain reached this part of South London with nine overs remaining of the Middlesex’s innings and Duckworth/Lewis had the last word in allocating victory to Surrey.

Rikki Clarke was the undisputed man of the match. He struck 46 off 28 balls, with seven fours, and then, shortly before forked lightning began to concern umpires and spectators alike, took three Middlesex wickets. Ed Smith and Scott Styris went to fine catches by Alistair Brown and Phil Sampson.

Then Ed Joyce went for a duck first ball, bowled by Clarke, which left Middlesex 41 for four and in the dreaded grip of Duckworth/Lewis. Jamie Dalrymple and Ben Hutton batted with authority after that, but the rain stair-rodded down at the end of the eleventh over and that was that.

Now here is a conundrum. Why was there a huge turnout of about 26,000 at Lord’s last week and yet 11,000 (still an impressive crowd) to watch the same teams at the Oval last night? The answer would appear to have something to do with Twenty20 cricket being a rarity at Lord’s — one match all season — compared with four fixtures and finals day here. Then there was the weather — a sultry night at Lord’s, a thunderstorm forecast at the Oval.

Last Thursday, Tim Murtagh took six for 24, the best figures in Twenty20 cricket. This time he struck an unbeaten 24 from eight balls and removed Owais Shah as well. The other principal Surrey run-makers were Clarke, of course, and Jon Batty, who made 39.

SHOW-STOPPER: Clarke’s all-round skills.

SHOW-DOWNER: Lightning above an exposed crowd.