Benning blows Kent away

Surrey 141 for 3 (Benning 66) defeated Kent 140 for 8 (van Jaarsveld 51) by seven wickets
Scorecard

The heat is most definitely on this summer. Just ask Australia, who have been learning what it's like to play in a pressure cooker. Down at Beckenham, in Kent, the heat was no less intense as a cruel summer for Kent got crueller when Surrey inflicted a painful victory on the opening night of this year's Twenty20. They had nowhere to hide - much like the fans, who sweltered under a scorching evening sun.

The marquees providing corporate and public hospitality offered refreshments but not cool. The makeshift shop sweltered under air conditioning that did nothing but pump hot air around. Those lucky enough to own one of the spanking new flats at long leg were rare beneficiaries of shade. Supping G & Ts, while munching strawberries, and all from the comfort of their own balconies, they were the coolest cats in town.

In the ground itself, the question on all fans' parched lips was: just where was the jacuzzi they had come to expect? Twenty20 marketing men, with your previous innovations, you have been spoiling us. There wasn't much in the way of innovation for this, the third year of shortened fare - the mandatory burger and ice-cream vans notwithstanding - but Beckenham did its best.

This may be the fourth choice venue for Kent, but the ground is easy on the eye and easily accessible from London - quite visibly, too. Behind the greenery which runs around the ground, the NatWest Tower and the Gherkin (or Swiss Re building, to give it its Sunday name) dot the distant skyline. Many had raced down from the sweltering smog-lined City, only to find themselves in baking tree-lined suburbia, and many got caught out in the heat. Peter, an IT consultant in town, had forgotten his shorts and had to make do, instead, with his black work trousers. "I'm frying", he announced, while reaching for another cooling beer.

Others adopted improvised means. One man pressed into a hedge, his 99 Flake icecream in hand, while more scrabbled to find a rare spot of shade in front of the media tent, or the designer flats.

But for the unlucky exposed - in this case, Kent - there was no cream to soothe the pain. Harbhajan Singh, Surrey's own Mr Whippy, appeared to have picked up the idea of the game pretty quickly. He was expensive in his first outing - when Asia lost to the International XI on Monday - but here, in front of a sell-out crowd approaching 7000, he bowled tighter; his four overs cost 22. Nayan Doshi also impressed, with 3 for 24 from his four overs. Kent wilted to 140 for 8.

Martin van Jaarsveld, though, showed he was at ease - he posted 51. But the much-awaited arrival of the big-hitting Justin Kemp disappointed. This format could have been dreamed up for him, at least in theory: in practice, he struck a turgid 10 from 16 balls. He needs to adapt - and fast, as a jam-packed fortnight lies ahead. In all, Kent managed just 13 fours and two sixes and, in this format, that was never enough. Surrey kept their cool and, within just 16 overs of their reply, they had the game licked.

Even without two of their Twenty20 stars - the retired allrounder Adam Hollioake and their captain Mark Ramprakash - Surrey showed how to strangle a team. James Benning took them home at a canter, striking 66 from 37 balls under the dying sun. Hollioake had revealed earlier this week that, despite a hat-trick cameo in the tsunami Twenty20 match, he wouldn't return to the format he has mastered. These days, extreme fighting Down Under is much more his style. Ramprakash's excuse was a little more prosaic - he is still recovering from a broken finger.

Despite the heat, and the one-sidedness of the result, the crowd - as always in such an evening romp - had a great time. A fair smattering of first-timers had waltzed on down, with some unsure where their allegiances lay. But in cheering both sides, they were guaranteed not to be disappointed. The same can't be said for Kent purists, while Surrey's fans could take this, smilingly, as a sign of things to come.