Brown blasts Surrey to easy win

Twenty20 Cup, Lord's: Surrey 218-7 bt Middlesex 178-7 by 40 runs

Scorecard

Surrey's Alistair Brown hit a superb 83 as they claimed a 40-run victory over Middlesex in their Twenty20 opener.

Brown clubbed eight fours and six sixes in his 38-ball knock and James Benning made 57 as the visitors piled up 218-7.

Tim Murtagh dismissed Ed Smith and Chad Keegan with the first two balls of the reply as Middlesex slumped to 13-4.

Scott Styris (56) and Eoin Morgan (66) played aggressively to rally the hosts but once they were out the innings faded and they ended on 178-7.

The game was effectively out of Middlesex's reach when Brown and Benning put on 148 for the opening wicket for last year's beaten semi-finalists.

Mohammad Ali's first over cost 23 as Brown went to 50 in just 19 balls, with one of his maximums flying out of Lord's and breaking a car windscreen.

Although things slowed down a bit after that, it was too much for the home side.