Rory Hamilton-Brown played a captain's innings as Surrey signed off a successful season with silverware at Lord's by claiming the Clydesdale Bank 40. In a season so blighted by the weather it was somewhat fitting that rain played a part with Surrey's target reduced to 186 off 30 overs and they won with 15 balls to spare to leave Somerset as bridesmaids for the fifth time in two seasons.

Surrey were equal with the Duckworth-Lewis target when rain arrived after 5.5 overs despite losing Jason Roy the ball before they went off. They resumed for another seven balls before the rain returned and from there on Surrey were always ahead of the game. When play resumed Somerset removed Tom Maynard to give them some hope, but Hamilton-Brown remained calm with 78 off 62 balls. Crucially, Hamilton-Brown had been dropped off the third ball of the innings when he pulled to midwicket but Murali Kartik spilled the chance. Defending 214, as they were at that point, Somerset had to take every chance.

Then, as the innings approach the 20-over cut-off, which guaranteed a result before the reserve day, Nick Compton missed a chance to run out the Surrey captain although even then Somerset would have remained behind. Chris Schofield played an important hand in a 58-run stand until he fell to Alfonso Thomas and when Hamilton-Brown was run out by a direct hit from Jos Buttler there was a hint of pressure.

The running became frenetic but Somerset missed three opportunities to hit the stumps and the constant head-in-hands summed up their day as Zander de Bruyn, whose experience is vital in a young Surrey team, and Matthew Spriegel, one of the key players in the one-day side, finished the job. It meant Surrey had secured their first trophy since the 2003 Twenty20 Cup and first victory in a Lord's final since 2001. The hard work of the last couple of seasons at The Oval is starting to bring rewards.

Somerset, on the other hand, will continue to wonder what they have to do to break their trophy drought, although on this occasion the answer is fairly simple as they slumped to 79 for 5 having chosen to bat first. That they got as far as 214 was down to Buttler who produced a mature 86 off 72 balls to enhance an already formidable reputation. On what was another good day for young, English talent - following last night's performance from Jonny Bairstow in the one-day international - Jade Dernbach bagged 4 for 30. Given that he and Buttler (along with Craig Kieswetter) made a late-night dash back from Cardiff they were commendable efforts.

Somerset's innings was a story of wasted starts as five batsmen fell between 10 and 16. Having been forced to field first, not their preferred method, Surrey stuck to their plan of opening with spin as Spriegel bowled the first over. Marcus Trescothick, playing with an injured ankle, managed a couple of boundaries but then ran past a delivery and was comfortably stumped. Somerset's talisman was gone.

Kieswetter, meanwhile, never looked settled during his 23-ball stay which ended with a big top edge and the short ball worked again when Peter Trego top-edged a flick to long leg and the power-hitting top order had been dispatched. James Hildreth played all over a delivery from Schofield as the spinners continued to play a key role, then Compton's missed reverse sweep and Craig Meschede's leading edge left Somerset 146 for 7.

Buttler, though, was outstanding as he pushed his case for a spot on the one-day tour to India. His fifty came off 48 balls and as the innings drew to a close - and the batting Powerplay was taken - he started to expand his strokeplay as he uppercut Dernbach over third man for the first six of the innings. Somerset, however, needed more than one innings of substance. On Sunday night they board a plane for Hyderabad and the Champions League, but the domestic season ends with a host of familiar questions being asked.