Hollioake Keeps Surrey Perfect

The problem with starting with a bang is that anything less feels like a whimper. Twenty20 has made such an explosive start that you expect fireworks every time, but last night in the suburbs of Surrey the mood was more polite sparklers than ear-splitting rockets.

The cricket had its moments, but the East Molesey locals, a healthy 3,000 of them, seemed strangely subdued. Perhaps it was that Monday feeling. Or the fact that Imber Court was staging its second game in three days. There may even have been concern about breaching the peace at a ground owned by the Metropolitan Police. Whatever the reason, something was missing.

Nearly 10,000 turned up to watch Surrey play Middlesex at the Oval on Friday. The mood was pure electricity, and the bars were catastrophically understaffed. There was no danger of a crush at the beer tent here, and until Jon Batty finished things off with 11 balls to spare, the biggest cheer had been reserved for the spectator by the ice-cream stall at midwicket who held on superbly to Chris Adams' imperious flick for six.

There were enough families here to encourage the notion that Twenty20 is reaching the parts that longer forms of the game cannot reach. And what they witnessed was another Surrey win - their third in a row in this competition - that was just about as thorough as this form of the game allows. It will be a major shock if they do not join Atomic Kitten for finals day at Trent Bridge on July 19.

Set a below-par 144 to win, Surrey were given a flyer by Ian Ward, who took 17 off Paul Hutchison's third over, including an uncharacteristic pick-up for six that scattered the spectators at midwicket. After that, they were always up with the rate, although some panicky strokes gave Sussex a sniff at 113 for six.

But Batty reverse-swept Mark Davis for four, then launched him in the direction of Robin Martin-Jenkins at long-off. Martin-Jenkins held on, then slumped in disappointment as he realised he had put his foot on the rope. When Batty swung him over backward square-leg for the winning six, Martin-Jenkins looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. The players were not supposed to care this much about a 20-over thrash. But they do.

Surrey's hero with the ball had been Adam Hollioake, whose pick 'n' mix all sorts were born for this format. As Sussex looked to build on Bas Zuiderent's 35 and Adams' muscular 22-ball 36, Hollioake chugged in at the death to pick up four wickets. The last over of the innings brought him two for only three runs, and he later added a beefy 24 off 16 deliveries.