SURREY LOOK TO RAMPRAKASH TO ENGINEER RESCUE by Marcus Hook
Surrey 185-5 v Derbyshire 451.

With Chris Rogers scoring a double century, Derbyshire's tail wagging to good effect and Greg Smith picking up three wickets in the space of 14 balls, the visitors look handily placed at the halfway stage in this contest. Derbyshire go into day three 266 runs ahead with five Surrey batsmen accounted for. Mark Ramprakash, who was acrobatically caught down the leg-side off a no-ball on 13, is still there, though, as is Gareth Batty, who is certainly no slouch with the bat. But batting is not going to get easier with the pitch beginning to take spin.

Needing 302 to avoid giving Derbyshire the option of enforcing the follow-on, Surrey slipped from 44 without loss to 53-3 shortly before tea. Matthew Spriegel, who was close to being caught and bowled in the fifth over, was the first of three victims in Greg Smith's opening spell of 7-3-16-3.

In the 19th over, Smith, opting to go around the wicket to the left-hander, accounted for Spriegel with a delivery that held its line. Two overs later, Arun Harinath - who took 20 balls getting off the mark and who should have been caught in the slips on 13 - was snapped up by Paul Borrington at the wider of two gullies. To add to Surrey's woes, Usman Afzaal, looking to cut, was caught at first slip in the 25th over.

The home side's fortunes did not improve after the break when Rory Hamilton-Brown, pushing half forward, fell leg before to Tim Groenewald, but 74-4 would have become 78-5 had Graham Wagg not been guilty of overstepping.

Mark Ramprakash, who opened his boundary account with two fours angled down to third man, occasionally freed his arms. He brought the hundred up for Surrey with a crunching pull off Smith in the 39th over and advanced to his first half century of the new season, which came off 94 deliveries, by repeating the cut four he took off Mark Footitt to move to 47.

Steven Davies, who was put down at third slip off Groenewald in the 37th over when he had ten, kept Ramprakash company for 23 overs. But when the fifth wicket pair had put on 105, Surrey's new wicketkeeper, looking to guide Robin Peterson down to third man, was scooped up by Wayne Madsen at slip.

Earlier, resuming on 306-5, the visitors added 145 to their overnight total. Chris Rogers, who was given a life on 46 on Friday, was handed a second reprieve on 182 when Stuart Meaker floored a routine chance at deep backward square leg off the bowling of Jade Dernbach in the sixth over of the day.

Meaker went some of the way towards making amends by trapping Peterson lbw, but four overs later a four down to the rope at third man, off Meaker, took Rogers to his third double century for Derbyshire in four championship matches. It had taken the Victorian 318 balls, 439 minutes and it included 27 boundaries.

Rogers departed in the very next over, the 110th, leg before looking to sweep, but Derbyshire's tail wagged furiously. With Wagg, Goddard and Footitt all making thirties the last three wickets produced 93 runs in 22 overs; during which the highlight was Footitt's three successive fours straight down the ground off Gareth Batty.

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