THE MARKETING men’s attempts to align the NatWest Pro40 with the Twenty20 Cup — the shorter game’s big brother, if you believe the hype — may be rather tenuous, but Nayan Doshi is only too happy to treat the new competition as an extension of its snazzier sibling. Doshi, the leading wicket-taker in the Twenty20 Cup this season, routed Derbyshire Phantoms yesterday by taking five for 30, flighting his left-arm spinners skilfully to record his best one-day figures.

Once Doshi’s work was done and Derbyshire were all out for only 207, Surrey coasted to an emphatic victory with 12.4 overs to spare, propelled by a thunderous 65-ball century from Alistair Brown. The short straight boundaries proved irresistible to Brown, who struck eight sixes and eight fours, endangering the children in their playground behind one sightscreen and the refurbished pavilion behind the other. Thankfully, only the figures of the Derbyshire bowlers were damaged.

On a slow pitch but fast outfield, Derbyshire’s batsmen had struggled once the pace was taken off the ball, Doshi’s tweakers contrasting with Anil Kumble’s skimming top- spinners. Only Graham Wagg’s 36 off 24 balls saw Derbyshire past 200. He fell to Doshi, who completed his five-wicket haul by bowling Kevin Dean.

It was a different story for the spin bowlers in Surrey’s innings. Jake Needham, the 19-year-old off-spinner, had the thankless task of coming on in the 12th over with 90 runs on the board. Brown and James Benning, who made 56 from 59 balls, added 155 in 19 overs as Brown completed his eighteenth one-day century.

If they had been given only 20 overs to reach their target, they probably would have done so with ease.