There was not the same clatter of wickets on day two that the opening day produced. Just six fell compared with Wednesday's seventeen as the batsmen coped better with the vagaries of a lively pitch. Indeed, the hosts posted record stands for the eighth and tenth wickets for Derbyshire against Surrey, with Greg Smith hitting an unbeaten 93 and Ian Hunter narrowly missing out on a half-century of his own. That was followed, in their second dig, with the Brown Caps' openers safely negotiating the session between lunch and tea. The star turn was Scott Newman who struck the first hundred of the match and batted with a maturity that Surrey's followers have not seen from the capricious left-hander for a while. Newman's 124 off 197 balls, which included 17 boundaries, leaves this contest fascinatingly poised at the halfway stage.

The visitors needed 28.4 overs to polish of the Derbyshire tail. Resuming at 152-7, the Smith-Wagg alliance, which had begun to tip the balance in their side's favour at the end of day one, was broken when Graham Wagg, sweeping lazily, was leg before to Chris Schofield in the 56th over; though not before Smith had brought up his fifty in 86 deliveries in the 54th over by despatching a well-flighted ball from Schofield straight down the ground for four.

Derbyshire were soon nine down - Chris Jordan nipping out Mark Lawson for a six-ball duck, caught behind down the leg-side. But it was then a case of further frustration for the Brown Caps as Smith and Hunter put on 83 in just fifteen overs for the tenth wicket, beating Derbyshire's previous record against Surrey of 83, which was set by Dominic Cork and Paul Aldred at the Oval in 1996. At one point Smith played a shot akin to a forehand in tennis to despatch a lifting ball from Pedro Collins through mid-wicket for four. To the visible relief of the visitors, Hunter eventually perished, backing away and losing his off peg to the West Indian left-armer, who returned figures of 5-75.

Needing 143 to make their hosts bat again, Surrey made a much more encouraging start to their second innings. While both openers played watchfully, Scott Newman showed the greater inclination to punish anything short. At times pulling the ball fiercely, the 29-year-old brought up his half-century with a hooked four off Hunter, though not before Michael Brown had fallen to a catch at second slip in the first over after tea when Hunter got one to spit off the pitch with the score on 89.

Newman then found a useful ally in Laurie Evans. Together the pair added 46 for the second wicket. The 21-year-old straight drove Lawson for four, but was unlucky to get a ball from Jonathan Clare that shot along the ground and a plucked out his off stump.

Newman cover drove Wagg for four to give the visitors a lead and to move himself into the nineties. His 165-ball hundred came up when he struck his 16th boundary, by pulling Clare. But Newman perished just before the close - caught behind by David Pipe, who was standing up to the stumps to Garry Park. Of Surrey's 75-run stand for the third wicket Usman Afzaal's contribution was just 24.

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