Lights go out on Somerset's hopes

Surrey 284 for 9 (Kapil 59, Davies 50) beat Somerset 267 (Trescothick 80, Hildreth 53, Ansari 3-38) by seven runs D/L
Scorecard

Halfway through the second innings there was a power surge through SE11. It took the floodlights out for 20 minutes and knocked out Somerset too. Pursuing a revised 275 in 38.2 overs to be sure of going through, their spark faded.

Somerset's equation was dictated by events at Trent Bridge, where victory for Nottinghamshire would require Somerset to overhaul Durham's net run-rate. The initial task to do so was 285 in 42.1 overs but the loss of four overs for a floodlight failure stiffened the requirement and on resumption they lost their way to lose a third straight game after qualification looked comfortably within reach.

It appeared Somerset's man-made power surge was leading them through. Marcus Trescothick's renaissance in the County Championship has not extended to the one-day arena this season. His form slipped to such an extent that he was dropped from the T20 side. He chose an opportune moment to regain his touch and bludgeoned 80 from only 54 balls - just his second limited-overs half-century this season.

He began with an edged cut over the slips before carving a more deliberate stroke wide of third man for another boundary. The first of his four sixes was a slap over Tim Linley's head into the pavilion in the ninth over.

Nineteen came from the next. He reached outside off stump to heave George Edwards for six over extra cover, took more runs to cow corner and through the off side yet again, before sending a length ball into the seats over deep midwicket.

The innings looked to have set his side up for a dashing chase to pip Durham into fourth place in Group B but a jolt of electricity after 24.1 overs had an undesired effect. On resumption, 129 were needed in 14.1 to be sure of going through but as Nottinghamshire suffered a Powerplay disaster, suddenly any victory would send Somerset through. The tenth wicket did their best to at least win the game with a stand of 34 but Nottinghamshire's eventual victory rendered the effort worthless. And a superb run-out by Aneesh Kapil saw Surrey win by seven runs anyway.

Somerset struggled to regain momentum after Zafar Ansari won two lbws against Trescothick and Johann Myburgh in consecutive overs. The lights went on and off. Alex Barrow then swung wildly at Robin Peterson and was stumped. Lewis Gregory became the fifth lbw on the card. James Hildreth kept Somerset in the game with a half-century but when he slapped Ansari to extra-cover, Somerset were slipping out.

Surrey could sit back and giggle at the events having not won a single match in the competition - in stark contrast to their T20 form. Jason Roy led their charge to NatWest Blast Finals Day but failed here, following a morning of much media attention. He struck the first ball of the match for four but, to the 11th, was pinned in the creased by Gregory and lbw for 10.

Instead, Kapil took his chance to prove why Surrey have offered him a contract until the end of 2015. Released by Worcestershire at the end of last season, Kapil's capable all-round ability has been recognised at The Oval and here he made a 52-ball fifty in just his sixth game for Surrey.

Rory Burns made his way to a steady 40 in 48 balls before falling to a leading edge trying to work Jack Leach to leg - part of a tidy 2 for 55 for the slow left-armer. Gary Wilson was the fourth player to pass forty without making his tally innings-defining. He was smartly run out by Craig Overton from deep square leg.