Gloucestershire 301 (Bancroft 100, Hammond 51, McKerr 4-32, Steel 4-61) defeated Surrey 264 (Patel 87, Blake 50, Taylor 4-44) with 37 runs

Both teams were still without a win after their first two games, but Surrey remain bottom of the Group B table. For Gloucestershire, left-hander Taylor took four for 44 and Singh Dale two for 49.

Blake and McKerr, who made 37 from 35 balls, batted valiantly in a seventh-wicket stand of 85 in 12 overs after Patel and Ben Foakes had reduced Surrey from 51 for three with a partnership worth 89.

Taylor, who had dismissed both Dom Sibley, who had lost his leg-before for nothing, and Ben Geddes (14) in a superb five-over new ball burst of two for 10, later produced a sharp lifter that McKerr could only parry to keeper James Bracey.

Singh Dale had returned earlier for a second over, with Foakes caught at deep square leg for 34 and then opener Patel – who had hit three sixes and seven fours – was denied by Bracey, who tried to force a short rising ball to leave Surrey on 153 for six.

Rory Burns had earlier in the day been caught for just six runs, leg-before by Ollie Price’s off spin, and after Price and left-handed spinner Tom Smith had worked effectively together midway through the innings to slow Surrey’s scoring rate, it was another slow left-hander, Graeme van Buuren, who had Steel caught behind the ball for a duck between the dismissals of Foakes and Patel.

Blake and McKerr, both hitting sixes against Matt Taylor, kept Gloucestershire waiting for a deserved victory. When Dom Goodman sprinted 20 yards to mid-off to beat a Blake skier off his own bowling, it was effectively over.

Bancroft’s fifth List A hundred was the perfect anchor for Gloucestershire’s innings, while fellow opener Hammond’s half-century from 57 balls provided the first forward momentum and Jack Taylor’s cameo from 26 balls gave the visitors some acceleration in the closing stages.

Surrey, however, would still have liked to restrict Gloucestershire to 301 after they reached the 40-over mark at 248 for four and Taylor had already started to score strongly in a 56-run stand against Bancroft.

Steel took his fourth wicket by sweeping Bancroft leg-before, and McKerr almost immediately had Van Buuren caught at wicket with a fine leg-cutter for a duck, putting the visitors on 260 for six.

Taylor had by now smashed the returning fastman Nathan Barnwell over the third man ropes for his first six, and had also managed to send Yousef Majid into the stands with his left-arm spin. But he was soon smashing James Taylor’s fast-medium for successive legside sixes before the same bowler ended his onslaught with the final ball of the 45th over.

And suddenly, with McKerr on a hat-trick after removing Smith (3) and Goodman, from an edge behind to a diving Blake and then a misplaced swat to mid-wicket, Gloucestershire were 289 for nine.

McKerr’s hat-trick ball almost found the bat of last man Singh Dale, who whistled it to keeper Blake. However, Sibley managed to deflect Steel’s Matt Taylor at long range to remain unbeaten on 19 as Singh Dale went down for six to McKerr.

Earlier, Hammond had dominated a first wicket stand of 79 runs after Gloucestershire came on, hitting two legside sixes and five fours.

Majid watched Hammond hit the final ball of the 15th over straight to mid-wicket, but was then swept aside by Bancroft for six as the Australian international teamed with Price for a second wicket stand of 74.

Price was beaten handsomely by Blake on 32, missing a cut as he passed Steel. The legspinner had the final say after Bracey skied too far after dragging him over the mid-wicket ropes to get to 16.

Steel’s googly caught Ben Charlesworth out on 12. The left-hander edged Blake with a thin delivery, but Taylor came on to help Bancroft lift Gloucestershire’s score to challenging proportions – a score that proved beyond Surrey’s reach.