The combination of some brainless batting, at times, by Nottinghamshire plus a keen and upbeat effort from Surrey in the field on day three means there is now only one team that can win this compelling contest and it is not the current championship leaders. The home side showed greater application after being asked to follow-on and immediately losing Will Jefferson for nought. But, with eight second innings wickets in hand, they still trail the visitors by 139 runs and there is a good deal left in the pitch for Brown Caps' quartet of seamers.

Nottinghamshire set off like a train in their first innings, reaching 60 without loss in thirteen overs. Jade Dernbach's first four overs went for 31, as the 22-year-old failed to ascertain what equated to a good length to the tall Jefferson.

The former Essex man took three successive boundaries off the youngster in the fourth over. Three overs later Pedro Collins put down a difficult caught and bowled chance off Jefferson, who was on 27 at the time. But just as it was beginning to look as if Surrey would fail to beat the outside edge before lunch, Jefferson, pushing forward, was caught behind to hand Matt Nicholson his 400th first-class scalp.

Mark Wagh became Nicholson's next when he fell victim to a diving catch at second slip immediately after the break. But Adam Voges put the Brown Caps on the back foot again with some scintillating strokeplay. In two successive overs from Nicholson he drove the ball straight past his fellow countryman for four, before pulling him to the mid-wicket boundary in the 24th over.

Nicholson nearly had his man when Stewart Walters put the Western Australian down, on 24, diving from second slip in front of Chris Jordan at first in the 26th over. Matthew Wood picked up his seventh boundary when he square drove Collins, but in the very next over the former Somerset man was strangled down the leg-side by Dernbach, whose second spell read 6-1-11-2.

Dernbach also struck in the 32nd over, when Voges, pulling, gloved the 22-year-old down the leg-side to Jonathan Batty. When Chris Read shouldered arms and had his off stump flattened by Jordan in the 40th over, the home side were 146-5 and in a spot of bother.

Samit Patel made a bright 40 off 55 balls, before perishing to a not-so-bright skied drive, which was taken by Batty running round to gully to give Matthew Spriegel his first championship wicket for Surrey.

Patel's was the first of five Nottinghamshire wickets to fall for 35 runs in the space of eleven overs. In the third over after tea Mark Ealham lost his off stump to one that kept low. Three overs later Graeme Swann swept Saqlain Mushtaq for six, but, in attempting to repeat the stroke off the next delivery, Swann was caught at deep mid-wicket. Andre Adams then danced down the wicket to Saqlain and lofted a catch to cover and Darren Pattinson, who earlier claimed 5-72, was undone by the Pakistani's quicker ball.

Earlier, after resuming on 356-7, the Brown Caps added 47 to their overnight total in eleven overs. Jordan went to the fourth delivery of the day when Pattinson found some tennis ball bounce and Voges held on to a routine catch at first slip. Saqlain then drilled the Victorian straight back over his head six and four overs later top edged a hook to third man off the same bowler; just before he brought up his first championship fifty of the season, off 66 balls.

Dernbach picked up where Saqlain, who was caught and bowled by Swann, left off by lifting the former England and Northants off-spinner over long-on for two successive sixes in the 134th over. Adams, who deserved a wicket, eventually got one when he had Collins trapped on the crease; though not before the visitors had posted the highest total at Trent Bridge for eleven months.

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