SURREY BAT TO SAVE DRAW AS PIETERSEN FAILS AGAIN by Marcus Hook
Surrey 380 & 206-7 v Glamorgan 276. Match drawn.

For the first time this season, Surrey batted to save a draw in the championship; a level-headed sixth wicket stand of 124 in 43 overs between Chris Schofield and Gary Wilson coming to the hosts' rescue after they collapsed to 21-5 with Kevin Pietersen making just one. When Schofield, who followed up his 63 in the first dig with 90, came to the crease at the end of the thirteenth over it looked as though Surrey would surrender as tamely as Middlesex were in the process of doing five miles up the road. The result means that the Oval outfit now sit 13 points behind their local rivals, albeit at the wrong end of Division Two, with a game in hand.

After Jade Dernbach drew a line under Glamorgan's first innings, by trapping Huw Waters leg before, Jason Roy got the home side off to a decent start, flicking Waters to the rope at deep backward square leg in the second over and cover driving James Harris for four in the third. But then three Surrey wickets fell with the total on 14.

Tom Lancefield, pulling, looped a catch to point. Roy, driving Waters straight to backward point, perished in the sixth over, then Mark Ramprakash recorded his third duck of the season when he edged a rising delivery from Harris to Tom Maynard at second slip.

In the 11th over, Rory Hamilton-Brown despatched Harris through cover off the back foot for four, only to play all around the 21-year-old's next delivery, which parted the Surrey captain's middle and off stumps.

By this time, Kevin Pietersen had taken the stage, but was having some difficulty assuming the centre of it. The former Notts and Hampshire batsman could only manage a hurriedly stolen single off Waters before he became Harris's fourth victim, walking across his stumps to fall lbw, when Surrey's advantage stood at a mere 125.

Harris, who is Glamorgan's leading wicket-taker in this summer's championship, went to lunch with figures of 10-5-18-4, and the home side licking their healing wounds at 41-5.

In the third over following the break, Schofield hooked Harris to the rope at mid-wicket. Four overs later Wilson cut Harris for four, though not before he had offered him a sharp return catch. Had Harris held on, the hosts would have been 48-6.

In the 36th over, Schofield brought up the fifty partnership with a straight driven four off Waters. Four overs later, the former England leg-spinner worked Robert Croft off his hip and down to the rope at long leg before on driving Croft's next ball for four.

Schofield faced 95 deliveries in reaching his second half-century in the match. But shortly afterwards Wilson was caught by Ben Wright, diving forward at extra cover, off the bowling of Robert Croft for a conscientiously accumulated 45.

Two overs later, Gareth Batty brought the 150 up for Surrey with a cover driven four off Croft. Schofield moved to 90 when he despatched Jamie Dalrymple's off-spin back over the bowler's head. But four balls later, Schofield, dancing down the pitch the Glamorgan skipper, was stumped down the leg-side. He had batted for 203 minutes, and had hit 11 fours in 172 deliveries.

At 4.21pm, the curtain came down on a game that was ravaged by the rain, when both sides shook hands on an evenly contested draw.

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