Jason Roy’s superb 92 could not save Surrey from defeat in their opening Vitality Blast clash.

They went down by five wickets, with 13 balls to spare, against Somerset at Taunton on Friday night.

Lewis Gregory’s men have often proved an obstacle for Surrey in recent times, beating them in the semi-finals for the past two seasons.

Roy had cut a sorry figure when completing a pair in the Rothesay County Championship at the Kia Oval four days earlier in his surprise return to first-class cricket over three matches.

Facing a white ball proved very different for the 34-year-old, a key member of England’s World Cup winning side in 2019 but with his international career now over.

But for Roy’s innings – made off just 54 balls, with six fours and seven sixes – Surrey would have been in a sorry state, T20 skipper Sam Curran (22) the only other batter to reach double figures as they fell well short of a defendable total at 146 for nine. New Zealand seamer Matt Henry took three for 21.

Opener Will Smeed (35) set Somerset on their way, Tom Abell (29 not out) and Ben Green (23 not out) securing victory for the hosts, although left-arm spinner Yousef Majid celebrated his T20 debut by taking two wickets.

“We were probably 20 runs short and losing a couple of wickets early on probably didn’t help us,” admitted Majid. “Jason played brilliantly but we could have done with one of the batters staying with him for longer.”

Surrey, who take on Glamorgan at Cardiff tonight (Tuesday), entertain Hampshire on Thursday at the Kia Oval before travelling to Canterbury 24 hours later to play Kent. Kiwi spinner Mitchell Santner, still in India because of the delayed IPL series, is expected to arrive this week.

By Richard Spiller