SURREY'S four-match winning streak in the T20 was brought to a halt on Monday night as Essex romped home by eight wickets with seven balls to spare.
Chasing 149 to win at the Oval, the Eagles displayed some big hitting, with Greg Smith and Owais Shah in particularly good form.
Smith smashed 62 runs in 42 balls, while Shah played a steady innings to score an unbeaten 46 from 45 balls, following on from some early fireworks from Hamish Rutherford (30).
In total, Essex blasted six sixes and eight fours as they made light work of Surrey's total of 148-6, which was lit up by a stellar show from Ricky Ponting, who scored 65 from 54 balls.
Jason Roy also struck four boundaries on his way to 30 from 26 balls, but Surrey's total always looked below par.
And unlike in recent matches, their bowlers were unable to defend the modest total, with the Eagles moving above Surrey in the South group table in the process.
It completed a winless week for Surrey, who salvaged their eighth draw of the County Championship season thanks to a superb innings from Ponting in his final first-class match.
The former Australian captain batted for the entire final day of the match against Nottinghamshire to end on 169 not out in his first-class swansong, with every visiting player shaking his hand as he left the field at the Oval last Thursday.
It was his second century during his short Surrey stint and helped the county avoid defeat in a match Nottinghamshire had dominated thanks to centuries from Steven Mullaney and Samit Patel in their first innings.