Victory over Essex saw Surrey bounce back in the Royal London One-Day Cup to claim their first win of the season.

Defeats by Gloucestershire and Sussex in the opening group matches had left Rory Burns’s men with little room for further setbacks if they are to reach the knockout stages.

But Tuesday’s success at the Kia Oval came at an alarming cost, losing Jason Roy, Ollie Pope and Rikki Clarke to injuries during the match and leaving the dressing room resembling the set of Holby City.

A 147-run hammering by Gloucestershire at Bristol, followed by a two-wicket reverse to Sussex at Hove on Good Friday comprised a disappointing start for Surrey in the 50-over competition but they showed admirable resistance in the face of injury setbacks to beat Essex by 65 runs.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

A spate of illness and injuries which have blighted the squad through the opening weeks of the season had extended to removing in-form seamer Tom Curran (knee niggle) from their line-up.

Hard-hitting Roy’s desire to find form before the World Cup was hampered when he suffered a back spasm early in the Surrey innings and, although he returned in the closing overs to finish 35no, he was in obvious discomfort. The hosts had to rely on in-form wicketkeeper Ben Foakes (82), chiefly aided by Burns (55) and Pope (39), to reach 278-8.

Two spectacular catches undermined the reply, Pope flinging himself to his right at point to remove former England captain Sir Alastair Cook (9) and then Liam Plunkett flying to his left to send back Tom Westley (8) in the opening overs. The beneficiary both times was fast bowler Morne Morkel, whose 4-23 was key to victory.

Dan Lawrence (50) and Ravi Bopara (47) threatened to take control in a fourth wicket stand of 90 from 15 overs, all-rounder Clarke having badly damaged a finger attempting to catch the latter. He broke and disclocated the digit and needed surgery later in the day.

Even more distressing was the sight of Pope suffering a shoulder injury after attempting to prevent a boundary, needing medical assistance before being helped off.

Despite fighting hard, a seventh wicket stand of 46 between Simon Harmer (28) and Ryan Ten Doeschate (26) regained the initiative for Essex before they were removed in successive balls by Liam Plunkett. The newly-signed England seamer had suffered heavy punishment in the previous two matches but came good to claim 4-50 and finish off Essex for 213.

He commented: “Essex are a good side but we also fielded well, especially early on with some great stops in the ring and some great catches. We then managed to break the Lawrence- Bopara partnership and finish off the game and it’s a good win.”