A SORRY Surrey were put to the sword as Derbyshire, chasing 261, won with 5.4 overs in hand on a sweltering day in South London. It left Steve Rixon, the Surrey coach, with a migraine on the eve of the visit of Warwickshire for their Twenty20 Cup quarter-final.

Surrey’s meek performance with bat, ball and in the field came after they allowed Hampshire to score 359 to win on the same pitch in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarterfinal last Friday.

“It is definitely a worry,” Rixon said. “Having someone chase over 350 was unacceptable and we’ve given them 20 runs in the first 15 (overs) today in the field. When the game starts running away from you, you’ve got to slow it down.”

Surrey looked every bit a team competing with Scottish Saltires for the wooden spoon in the second division. Derbyshire hopped past them in the table and can travel to Old Trafford for their Twenty20 quarter-final full of confidence.

At 3pm, David Houghton, the Derbyshire coach, said that Steve Stubbings would drop out for the Twenty20 Cup. By 6pm, Stubbings and Michael Di Venuto had made a mockery of Surrey’s 260 — an innings of fits and starts.

The opening pair rattled up 217 by the 32nd over, when Stubbings was surprised by a good ball and was yorked two short of a first one-day hundred. Di Venuto chipped to mid-on two overs later, two runs short of what would have been his third totesport League hundred in five innings.

Stubbings, one of county cricket’s journeymen, has not played in this season’s Twenty20 because of a broken thumb, but yesterday’s fine innings may have earned him a promotion.

Mo Sheikh will not play after being taken to Guy’s Hospital on arriving in London yesterday with what was first diagnosed as mumps, then “severe tonsillitis with a bacterial infection”.

Rixon must choose between Graham Thorpe, who was going well until brilliantly run out by Graeme Welch, and Scott Newman.