Murtagh delights Surrey fans

The new Twenty20 season is only into its third day and the appeal of county cricket's great moneyspinner shows no signs of diminishing.

Indeed, judging by the number of ticket touts skulking down Wellington Road yesterday at tea time, demand is way exceeding supply.

A full house of 28,500, made up of legions of children, older spectators staggering beneath trays of beer and thousands of suits, packed into a sun-baked Lord's for the second season running to witness Surrey defeat neighbours Middlesex by 23 runs.

Tim Murtagh, with six for 24 in four overs, was the visitors' hero, claiming the first sixwicket-haul in the competition just as the home side were in with a shout of chasing down Surrey's impressive 200 for three.

Once the seamer had removed Owais Shah, who had blazed his way to 78 off 44 balls, one of his five sixes landing in the top tier of the Tavern Stand, the Middlesex innings collapsed as the last nine wickets fell for 29 runs.

All-rounder Dominic Thornely completed an excellent match by adding three wickets to his 42-ball unbeaten 67, which was the mainstay of Surrey's innings, along with stand-in captain Alistair Brown's 64 off 39 balls.