Surrey big-hitter Ali Brown is confident the Lions can tame Lancashire's powerhouse batsmen to reclaim their Twenty20 crown today.

The Lions take on favourites Lancashire in the mouth-watering first semi-final of the third Twenty20 Cup finals day at The Oval.

The two sides met at the same stage last season, with the Lions - winners in 2003 - going on to reach the final.

After storming through the group stages and quarter-finals Lancashire are expected to avenge that loss this time but Brown believes the Lightning can be struck down again.

"They have got an exceptional side and on paper they will beat us comfortably," said Brown of a formidable Lancashire batting line-up that features in-form openers Stuart Law and Mal Loye, Australian star Andrew Symonds and England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

"They seem to have pulled out all the stops and I didn't realise they had room for Flintoff.

"They have got so many match-winners it isn't funny - but we don't play on paper and they came up short last year in a game they should have won.

"We have played some decent cricket in parts and it has gone quite well for us.

"We have done exceptionally well to get this far. We have got players who do not fear failure and we will give it a good go. We will not die wondering."

Surrey, who have the advantage of playing at home, established themselves as the kings of Twenty20 by winning the inaugural competition and finishing runners-up to Leicestershire last season.

The Foxes too are back to defend their title, and will take on fellow outsiders Somerset in the second semi-final.

The competition has continued this year to throw up the high levels of excitement it was created for. There have been high scores, a hat-trick and a number of tight finishes.

There have been five centuries scored, with Lancashire's Law and Loye hitting two of them and Somerset captain Graeme Smith one.

Surrey have not had a centurion this year but their campaign has been a remarkable one with a five-over match against Essex, Azhar Mahmood hitting 6-4-4 off the last three balls to beat Sussex and a quarter-final bowl-out against Warwickshire.

Confusion reigned after the scores were tied in that rain-hit match at The Oval. Surrey initially thought they had won but when the rules were studied carefully it was discovered a bowl-out was necessary.

Tim Murtagh delivered the decisive blow when he hit the stumps in 'sudden death' and pulled his shirt off in celebration.

"That's Twenty20 for you," Brown said. "We have had a few games gone down to the last few balls and there was that bowl-out.

"When it was decided it was going ahead it was exciting I suppose but I'm not sure I would like to do it again.

"We've been giving Tim a bit of stick. He's turned into a D-list celebrity after taking his shirt off, which he probably regrets after not doing enough sit-ups!"

The Lions are hoping all-rounder Rikki Clarke will be available to bowl after being restricted to a batsman-only role by a hamstring problem in recent weeks.

Martin Bicknell has played in this week's Frizzell County Championship match against Nottinghamshire despite a niggling Achilles problem and should feature and Scott Newman has also overcome a hamstring injury.

Lancashire will travel with a fully-fit squad after Law and Marcus North both came through fitness tests.

Leicestershire welcome back batsman Dinesh Mongia from an Indian training camp and Ottis Gibson has also overcome back and hamstring injuries. John Sadler is out with a fractured collarbone.

Smith is set to resume the captaincy for surprise semi-finalists Somerset after taking a back seat in the Championship match against Durham this week.

Leicestershire produced a shock by beating Surrey in last year's final and batsman Darren Maddy believes the fact most of the attention is on the first semi-final will again help the Foxes.

Maddy said: "It is nice to go about our job quietly. There is not too much pressure on us, no-one is expecting anything and it would be nice to have a few more surprises tomorrow.

"To me it (last year) was the most perfect day of cricket that I've been involved with. The ground was in fantastic condition, the atmosphere was amazing, the weather was perfect and of course we managed to come out with the trophy at the end of it.

"If it can be anything like that then it will be another good one."