Paul Walter's fifty helps Essex break duck at Surrey

Paul Walter smashed his first half-century of this season's Vitality Blast as Essex broke their duck in the tournament by stunning Surrey in a rain-reduced final-ball encounter at the Kia Oval.

The left-hander struck 55 from 26 balls, sharing an opening partnership of 64 from 27 with Michael Pepper (36 from 15) as Essex finally registered a South Group victory at their 10th attempt, chasing down a target of 142.

The contest was reduced to 12 overs a side following a heavy downpour 15 minutes before the scheduled start, with Surrey posting a challenging total of 141 for six.

Former Essex leg-spinner Adam Zampa did his best to ruin their hopes on his debut for Surrey, taking 3 for 14 in three overs, but it was not enough as Matt Critchley carved Sam Curran's final ball to the boundary to clinch victory.

Once play finally began, Essex struck twice inside the reduced powerplay, with Pepper's diving catch in the deep accounting for Dom Sibley and Will Jacks (20 from 13) obligingly punting Luc Benkenstein's first delivery straight to mid-off.

Sam Curran (25 from 13) struck the ball cleanly, thrashing 16 from Walter's first three deliveries before going after the next one as well, with Jordan Cox racing out from behind the stumps to complete a tumbling catch near point.

Despite less than perfect timing, Jason Roy's power brought him 30 from 17, including two enormous sixes off Matt Critchley before the leg-spinner took his revenge, castling him with a googly.

Laurie Evans' five-ball cameo of 18 propelled the home side above 100 and, although they were initially reined in by Mohammad Amir, Tom Curran (27 not out from 11) finished the innings on a high by hitting the left-armer's last two deliveries for four and six.

That left the visitors pursuing almost 12 an over - and they blazed 50 from the first three of them, with Pepper sweeping Mitchell Santner for two boundaries before lifting the spinner over the leg-side fence.

Zampa's introduction prised out Pepper and slowed Essex's progress, but Walter slammed Chris Jordan for back-to-back fours before the Australian spinner dismissed Jordan Cox and Benkenstein in successive deliveries.

Sam Curran had Walter caught behind with 18 still required, while Charlie Allison (15 from 12) and Simon Harmer also perished before Critchley, undefeated on 14 from six, held his nerve to pierce the ring of fielders at the death.