A comfortable victory over Sussex has put Surrey’s Vitality Blast campaign back on track.

They won by 54 runs at Hove on Saturday – restoring themselves to the top of South Group, before Somerset regained the summit on Sunday – to claim a fourth win in six matches so far.

Successes over Middlesex at Lord’s on Thursday and Glamorgan at the Kia Oval 24 hours later would put Surrey in a strong position to claim a place in the quarter-finals. The final six matches take place next month, following a brief return to Vitality County Championship action.

Sussex had inflicted a 36-run reverse when the sides first met eight days earlier and another point was dropped when Surrey tied with Gloucestershire at The Oval on Friday.

The visitors made 170 for six, with Beau Webster’s 40 the top score. Jason Roy (55) and Ollie Pope (48) responded by adding 96 for the third wicket after a poor start. Surrey required 81 off the last eight overs, but going into the final over they needed just six for victory with four wickets in hand.

Yet left-arm seamer David Payne produced a superb over, bowling Tom Curran (18) with the first ball and having Sean Abbott (two) caught in the deep off the third. Jordan Clark took two runs off the penultimate ball to bring the scores level, but could then only dig out a superb yorker and was run out by the bowler.

Sussex’s run of four wins had taken them to the top of the table when the teams regathered at Hove. Surrey were indebted to Laurie Evans (41) and Jamie Smith (45) for reaching 184 for eight, which might have been more but for Danny Lamb’s three for 36.

The hosts were instantly in trouble as Australian speedster Spencer Johnson removed Harrison Ward and James Coles inside the first four balls. When Sean Abbott had the dangerous Daniel Hughes (17) caught behind it struck another major blow and Surrey’s attack proved unrelenting as paceman Gus Atkinson (two for 25), off-spinner Dan Lawrence (two for 25) and Tom Curran dismissed them for 130.

While his younger brother Sam has been largely confined to the sidelines in England’s World T20 campaign, Tom has proved a major boost to Surrey’s T20 hopes, with his three for 39 another important contribution from the all-rounder.

Paceman Johnson was delighted by the team’s showing. He said: “It felt like our best all-round performance so far and after the tie against Gloucestershire it was good to get the two points.

“It was quite a tricky pitch and we finished our innings thinking we had 15-20 over par. It nipped around a bit and Sussex have some handy bowlers, so credit to our batters.”

Surrey will swap their coloured gear for whites when they head to New Road for the resumption of the County Championship against Worcestershire on Sunday, holding a narrow two-point lead at the top of Division One and facing their leading challengers Essex a week later.