ON THEIR first return to the Oval since winning the Twenty20 Cup last month, Somerset comfortably disposed of a lacklustre Surrey to maintain their slim chances of promotion. The mastermind behind their success was Ian Blackwell, who followed some economical bowling with a blistering 88 off 53 balls.

The match was still in the balance when Blackwell came in at 89 for three in the nineteenth over, but with two of his first three scoring strokes being sixes, the burly all-rounder immediately signalled his audacious intent. With some controlled but mighty hitting, Blackwell dominated a match-winning stand of 120 in 16 overs with James Hildreth, who played the supporting role perfectly with a 63-ball fifty. In all, Blackwell struck six sixes, three of them off Ian Salisbury. Hildreth finished the match with a six off Nayan Doshi.

Surrey were threatening to make a much larger total than the 237 they finished with after storming to 85 without loss in the fifteenth over.

Then, after Jonathan Batty was run out for 41 off as many balls, Blackwell and Arul Suppiah, his fellow left-arm spinner, curbed the Lions’ charge with some clever flight and guile. Suppiah claimed his three wickets in the space of 15 balls, and Blackwell removed Mark Butcher, who made 46 off 65 balls on his first one-day appearance this season.