NOTTINGHAMSHIRE V SURREY - Specsavers County Championship - 13 April 2016
Nottinghamshire 446 & 172-7.
Surrey 225 & 389. Nottinghamshire won by 3 wickets.

Nottinghamshire are the early leaders in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship after defeating Surrey by three wickets at Trent Bridge. Set to score 169 in their second innings, the hosts reached their target in 42.4 overs for the loss of seven wickets, although the match remained in the balance right up until the winning blow.

Surrey were bowled out, on the stroke of lunch, for 389 in their second innings, with Arun Harinath eventually falling for 137. The 29 year old left-hander, who had spent time at the crease on all four days of the match, batted for almost six hours and faced 270 deliveries, hitting 18 fours and a six.

Jake Ball was the pick of the Nottinghamshire attack, adding two more wickets on the final morning, to finish with figures of five for 98. Notts made heavy weather of their run chase, slipping from 72 without loss to 100 for five, helped by a mid-afternoon burst of three for none from Tom Curran, who whipped out Michael Lumb, Brendan Taylor and Riki Wessels in quick succession, on his way to figures of four for 58.

Steven Mullaney, followed up his first innings score of 113 with a run-a-ball knock of 42, which included a huge pulled six off Ravi Rampaul. The former West Indian Test match bowler had his revenge, pinning the opener in his crease before having Samit Patel caught in the slips and Chris Read adjudged lbw. Greg Smith remained defiant. In seven previous first class innings for the county he hadn’t got past 14 but he chose his moment to register his first meaningful contribution with a resilient 54, before falling with only 17 required.

Brett Hutton edged his side closer, leaving the stage to Ball to cap a fine match by hitting the winning runs. Surrey had begun the final day with an overall lead of 76 and soon added to it, with Sam Curran helping Harinath extend their sixth wicket partnership to 44, before the second new ball parted them. Ball, back from his first winter as an England Lions bowler, picked up his fourth wicket of the innings by trapping Curran for 28 in the ninth over of the day and a similar mode of dismissal then accounted for Gareth Batty, for 6.

A sharp catch at first slip by Wessels ended Harinath’s fine knock, off the bowling of Jackson Bird. The 29 year old had faced 270 balls, hitting 18 fours and a six. Harry Gurney removed Tom Curran to the third lbw of the morning before Mark Footitt holed out for 5, leaving Rampaul unbeaten on 13. Despite pushing their hosts all the way, Surrey had left themselves too much to do after being forced to follow on and the target remained within reach. Nottinghamshire collect the full haul of 24 points from the contest, while Surrey collect only four points on their return to the top flight.

JAKE BALL (Notts): "Personally and on a team level it is great to get off to such a good start and get the points on the board early. To get a five-wicket haul in the first game is really pleasing. I think we bowled exceptionally well as a unit in the first innings and I probably didn’t get the rewards then but we knew if we kept doing what we had been doing and stuck the ball in the right areas then the wickets will come. I said at lunch that if I have to go and get my pads on I’d be pretty upset but it’s a great feeling to hit the winning runs for the team."

MICK NEWELL (Notts’ director of cricket): "It was terrific to see Brett Hutton and Jake Ball finish the game off. Lots of people have made contributions over the course of the four days but nice to see those two get us over the line. Having dominated so many sessions in a match you should win, unless you make a pigs ear of one and that was the danger today. We could have thrown away three and a half days of good work. But luckily we didn’t quite do that." (On reports that the dressing room were motivated to win it for James Taylor) "There are lots of different motivations over a player’s career - and indeed, over a season, as to what drives them on to win. Obviously it was difficult news halfway through this match about Titch but it certainly motivated one or two to a higher level of performance and that is a good thing."

GARETH BATTY (Surrey): "We made it very difficult for ourselves over the first four or five sessions of the game. You can’t get that far behind against a very good team and Notts are a proven team. We gave ourselves too big a hill to climb but it was a pretty good effort to try and turn it around."

TEA REPORT

All results are still possible at Trent Bridge where Nottinghamshire have been set to score 169 to defeat Surrey in the Specsavers County Championship. At tea, the home side have reached 116 for five, with Greg Smith unbeaten on 44, alongside Chris Read, who has eight. Notts appeared to be coasting to victory with Steven Mullaney and Greg Smith putting 72 on for the first wicket. After his first innings century, Mullaney was in delightful form as the repeatedly found the cover boundary in a run-a-ball innings of 42. He was trapped lbw by Ravi Rampaul, who later had Samit Patel caught spectacularly in the slip cordon by Kumar Sangakkara. The other three wickets came during a devastating burst from Tom Curran. Having switched ends, he picked up three for none, within the space of seven deliveries, removing Michael Lumb, Brendan Taylor and Riki Wessels.

LUNCH REPORT

An interesting final afternoon lies ahead at Trent Bridge where Nottinghamshire will need to score 169 to defeat Surrey in their opening Specsavers County Championship match. The visitors were bowled out for 389 in their second innings, with Arun Harinath making 137, having batted for just short of six hours. Jake Ball picked up two more wickets on the fourth morning, to finish with deserved figures of five for 98. Sam Curran blazed out of the starting blocks at the start of the day and helped Harinath add 44 for the sixth wicket before the second new ball parted them. Ball picked up his fourth wicket of the innings by trapping Curran for 28 in the ninth over of the day and a similar mode of dismissal accounted for Gareth Batty for 6. A sharp catch at first slip by Riki Wessels ended Harinath’s fine knock, off the bowling of Jackson Bird. The 29 year old had faced 270 balls, hitting 18 fours and a six. Harry Gurney removed Tom Curran to the third lbw of the morning, for 8, before Mark Footitt holed out for 5, leaving Ravi Rampaul unbeaten on 13.

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