Ollie Pope admitted two poor powerplays condemned Surrey to defeat by Gloucestershire as their pursuit of a Vitality Blast quarter-final spot was held up.

Having started the second phase of the South Group qualifiers with wins over Sussex and Essex, they went down by 57 runs at Bristol on Saturday.

It left Surrey second in the table – just ahead of Essex on net run rate and with a game in hand – with three matches remaining. The top two in each of the three groups qualify for the quarter-finals, plus two of the sides finishing third.

They appeared to have escaped the inconsistent form of the first six matches – winning three and losing three – when the competition restarted, a seven-wicket success at Sussex followed by beating Essex. That came by seven runs, speeding to 240 for four from their 20 overs thanks to openers Jason Roy (65) and Laurie Evans (40) putting on 98 before Josh Philippe hit 61 not out – the Australian’s second half-century since arriving at the Kia Oval – and acting captain Pope cracked 59.

Paul Walter’s ferocious 78 from 30 balls – including 12 fours and four sixes – saw Essex reach three figures inside seven overs. But off-spinner Dan Lawrence and Reece Topley both took three for 28 against their old county, regular breakthroughs ensuring that even a fierce final charge from tailenders Shane Snater (33 not out) and Zaman Akhtar (26 not out) could not drag the hosts any closer than 233 for eight.

That sent Surrey to Bristol for their second and final cross-group match under the new format, against a Gloucestershire side second in the Central & West group.

They came up against Australian T20 specialist D’Arcy Short in sparkling form, hammering an unbeaten 92 from 56 balls which included eight fours and four sixes, the hosts finishing their six-over powerplay on 67 for one. Dawid Malan (28) and Jack Taylor (40) were the other main contributors, Surrey finding it desperately hard to contain them as the hosts scored 191 for five.

The reply was in immediate trouble after the loss of Evans and Roy, sinking quickly to 59 for six with Lawrence (38) and Chris Jordan (27) the main resistance before being bowled out for 134. James Hayes took three for 23.

Pope conceded: “We didn’t get it quite right. It felt like the powerplays would be important and you want early wickets but the way D’Arcy Short batted through their innings was very good. We also lost the game in our batting powerplay, so both were disappointing from our point of view.”

Surrey have signed fast bowler Henry Crocombe, who will move from neighbours Sussex at the end of the season.

The 24-year-old has taken 106 first-class wickets in 48 matches but his advance in the past two years has brought him to notice.

Crocombe impressed with his hostility when the sides met in the Rothesay County Championship clash in May and he took four wickets for England Lions against South Africa A at Beckenham soon afterwards.

With an ageing bowling line-up which has lacked a cutting edge this season, Surrey were badly in need of reinforcements.

“The opportunity to bring a player of Henry Crocombe’s potential to Surrey was something we were keen to make happen,” said director of cricket Alec Stewart, having had to fight off several other counties.

By Richard Spiller