A daunting target of 362 runs proved overwhelming for Nottinghamshire as they went down by 174 runs in a Benson & Hedges semi-final which was totally dominated by the opposition who registered their biggest win, in terms of runs, in this competition.

Their middle order batsman, Kevin Pietersen fought a lone battle as wickets tumbled at the other end. Their only stand of some substance was for the fifth wicket when Usman Afzaal, 37, helped to put on 68.

The hopelessness of their task, if not already clear by then, was made so when the next wicket fell in the following over, the 20th, reducing them to 120 for six and still needing 242.

Nottinghamshire were, in effect, played out of the match as early as the ninth over when they were 47 for four. Later, after their token effort for the fifth wicket was ended, they lost five wickets for 28. By then it had become increasingly clear that it was just a case of going through the motions with their target beyond them.

Pietersen, however, went on regardless, not just putting up resistance but, indeed, playing his shots defiantly. This tall, South Africa-born all-rounder who will be 21 on Wednesday, appears to have a full range of strokes and with his performance this season he has to be regarded as a great prospect for Nottinghamshire.

When Surrey wrapped up the visitors' innings in the 32nd over on 187, Pietersen, was left unbeaten with 78 from just 67 balls. Richard Stemp, with 29, had helped him to add 44 for the last wicket. Alex Tudor finished with three wickets for 52 while Martin Bicknell and Ed Giddins had two each.

Earlier, Surrey could hardly have wished for a better start to their innings after deciding to make first use of their home pitch from which came a record-breaking proliferation of runs.

The left-handed pair of opening batsmen, Mark Butcher and Ian Ward had the measure of the Nottinghamshire attack from the first over and it came as no surprise that the 50 was posted as early as the eighth over.

Their progress to the hundred was almost precisely at the same rate of scoring, in the fifteenth over, by when the visitors had tried four bowlers.

The conditions were perfect for batting and Surrey's batsmen ensured the fine attendance on the lovely sunny morning were not deprived of entertainment.

Ward was the first of three Surrey batsmen to reach half-centuries, his came from 42 balls as he drove Gareth Clough to wide mid-wicket for his seventh boundary. Man-of-the-match Butcher reached his 50 with the same number of boundaries, having faced 54 balls.

Their strokeplay was delightful, both driving on either side on the wicket for most of their runs as the length maintained by Nottinghamshire's bowlers did not allow for too many cuts and pulls at that stage.

Surrey lost their first wicket when Ward was stumped from a ball that was fumbled by the wicket-keeper and then rebounded on to his stumps. From 112 for one they moved quickly on to 160 before the second wicket fell; Nadeem Shahid contributing 32 from only 21 balls.

Butcher went on to pile up the runs until, on 84 from 86 balls, he mistimed and skied to mid-on. A 98-run stand for the fourth wicket between Alec Stewart and Alistair Brown came to an end on 304 with Brown, one short of 50 from just 37 balls, being held from a juggled return catch by Usman Afzaal who then claimed his third victim in the same 44th over with Stewart top edging behind the stumps.

It had been a hard-hitting 67 at the rate of a-run-a-ball and after his dismissal there was one final display of aggressive batting to come. It was provided by Ben Hollioake who remained unbeaten with 39 off 23 balls. The second of his two sixes took Surrey past their highest score of 350, in the two knock-out limited-overs competitions.

By the end of their 50 overs they had reached an awesome total of 361 for eight. Afzaal and Greg Blewett finished with three wickets each from 51 and 41 runs respectively.

© CricInfo