An impressive half-century from Brad Taylor (66) was not enough to see Hampshire Second XI secure victory over Surrey Second XI, as the visitors claimed a seven-wicket win in the Second XI Trophy match at the Utilita Bowl.

Taylor had initially led Hampshire’s recovery after they were reduced to 43-3 inside the opening 15 overs and the right-hander combined well with Sean Terry (46) and Andy Gorvin (38), who also offered useful contributions, as Hampshire posted 239 from their 50 overs.

Surrey began positively in reply and half-centuries for both Chris Green (77) and Harry Allen (61*) ensured the visitors eased towards the required target which was reached for the loss of three wickets with more than eight overs to spare.

After being asked to bat first, Hampshire looked to be in early trouble when the top three all departed cheaply and in quick succession.

A valuable 96-run partnership between Terry and Taylor brought Hampshire towards relative safety before the pair both fell and the hosts fell back into an uncertain position.

Late-order runs from Gorvin and Tom Friend (25) added to the total and saw the home-side past 200 but with little time remaining in the innings they were soon dismissed attempting to increase the run-rate, thanks largely to the accurate Will Pereira (4-50).

Hampshire were eventually dismissed with Tom Barber (7) falling on the final ball of the innings to post what seemed to be a below-par total.

Surrey began well in their response as both Aneesh Kapil (48) and Oliver Batchelor (47) started positively to see the visitors reach 73-0.

Two quick wickets from Basil Akram (2-43) and Friend (1-27) saw both openers removed, but hopes of picking up further swift wickets were soon ended by a 124-run partnership between Green and Allen which guided the away-side to the required target with plenty of deliveries to spare.