THE rain washed away any hopes that Somerset had of reaching the semi- finals of this year's CB40 competition when their match with Surrey on Monday at Taunton was abandoned after just 27 balls were bowled.

The start of the match was delayed by 15 minutes by the weather , but after winning the toss and opting to field, Steve Kirby opened the bowling from the Old Pavilion End for the hosts and saw just a single taken from it.

Pete Trego from the River End struck first with the fourth ball of his second over when Steven Davies mistimed a drive and lofted it instead to deep mid on where George Dockrell safely took the chance.

New batsman Kevin Pietersen punched his second ball from Trego through mid wicket for three and then took his two boundaries off Kirby before the rain came down and the players left the field, with Surrey 29 for one and both batsmen 11 not out.

The umpires inspected three time before eventually calling the game off at 5.30pm.