TOM Maynard hit a magnificent 78 not out from just 43 balls against Surrey to keep Glamorgan's hopes of a Friends Provident t20 quarter-final alive.

Maynard struck five sixes and five fours to lift Glamorgan from a wobbly 46 for three to victory by five wickets with three balls to spare in an entertaining South Group match.

Surrey began the day as one of four counties in second place on 12 points behind group leaders Sussex, but their hopes of a seventh win from their 12th game disappeared as fast as the strokes that flew from 21-year old Maynard's bat.

Glamorgan now have five wins from their own 12 group games to date, and the identity of the three counties who will qualify for the knockout phase behind Sussex looks like remaining in doubt right up to the last round of matches.

At 70 for three at the 10-over mark, it seemed as if Glamorgan were struggling to keep pace with the task of scoring 169.

Accelerator

But Maynard was just warming up and in the 14th over he began to hit the accelerator with a brilliant pick-up for six over deep square leg off Stuart Meaker which took the total past 100 — and then a pull for four from the next ball.

Jamie Dalrymple, the Glamorgan captain, played his part with four successive fours off Rory Hamilton-Brown's 15th over and although Chris Tremlett returned to york Dalrymple for 28 two overs later, the force was by now with Maynard.

He took two crucial boundaries off Tremlett later in the same over and perhaps the moment which finally decided the outcome came in the 18th over when Stewart Walters brought off a superb diving catch at deep square leg, as Maynard swung away a ball from Chris Schofield, but could not prevent his momentum from carrying him over the boundary rope.

It was Maynard's fourth six and the fifth arrived in the final over.

Glamorgan began it needing 10 but Hamilton-Brown fired a wide down the leg side with his first ball, also enabling Ben Wright to scamper a bye, and Maynard then hit the next ball — a full toss — high over mid-wicket.

Two balls later, with the scores level, Wright hit the cover-driven four which confirmed Glamorgan's win.

Mark Ramprakash had provided the anchor innings in Surrey's 168 for four, finishing on 63 not out from 49 balls.

He set off like a train, hitting Will Owen for a six and four from successive balls in the third over after starting with two boundaries in Robert Croft's opening over.

He and Tommy Lancefield added 68 in less than six overs for the first wicket, and Ramprakash later swung Jim Allenby high over wide long-on for another six, but otherwise the former England batsman concentrated on rotating the strike as a succession of partners attempted big hits at the other end.

But there were no fireworks from Andrew Symonds, who holed out to long-off with a poor shot after scoring just four.

Glamorgan again missed Shaun Tait's extra pace as their seamers were treated harshly by the Surrey batsmen. But spinners Croft, Dean Cosker maintained enough control to give them hope of victory at the halfway mark.