SURREY V HAMPSHIRE - Specsavers County
Championship - 9 September 2016
Surrey 329 & 248-3. Hampshire 582-9d. Match drawn.
Kumar Sangakkara scored a classy 84 not out from 177
balls to lead Surrey to the safety of a draw at the Kia Oval and
deny Hampshire a victory to ease their relegation worries in the
Specsavers County Championship's Division One.
Rain arrived at 4pm to bring the match to a
premature close, but Surrey were only five runs away from wiping off
their first innings arrears at 248 for 3 when the weather
intervened. Steven Davies was unbeaten on 29 having helped the great
former Sri Lankan captain to put on an unbroken 57 for the fourth
wicket.
The key stand of the day, however, came earlier in
the afternoon when Arun Harinath, who made 57, added exactly 100
with Sangakkara for the third wicket, with the pair batting almost
throughout the session between lunch and tea and repelling a
Hampshire attack revolving around Liam Dawson's left-arm spin from
the Vauxhall End and their seamers rotating from the other end.
Until Harinath was caught at the wicket off Sean
Ervine's medium pace, with Lewis McManus taking an excellent legside
catch shortly before the tea interval, Hampshire's only bowling
successes of the final day had come in the morning session when they
dismissed both Surrey openers, Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley.
Surrey had started the day on 23 for no wicket,
needing a further 230 runs to make Hampshire bat again, and Dawson
was on from the start of the day as he looked to impress England's
selectors ahead of the winter tour squad announcements.
Dawson bowled tidily enough, unchanged from the
Vauxhall End during the first session, and then sending down all but
three overs from the same end between lunch and tea, and made the
initial breakthrough by having Burns smartly caught at short leg for
18 in his sixth over of the day. Overall, however, he failed to
exploit any last day wear and tear and ended up with figures of
36-8-95-1.
Sibley, who scored 44, fell for the second time in
the match to a diving legside catch by McManus, as he aimed a back
foot flip off his hip against the pace of Brad Wheal.
Sangakkara, however, who nonchalantly drove his
first ball, from Dawson, to the extra cover boundary, held
Hampshire's attack at bay with some ease, hitting 11 fours in all,
while it was to Harinath's great credit that he suffered little by
comparison in their third wicket stand.
Surrey, their place in Division One confirmed by
this result, take nine points from the draw while second-from-bottom
Hampshire take 12.
Hampshire captain James Vince said: "We stuck at
it well today, and we knew it would be difficult to bowl them out
because the pitch was better than it was on day one. I thought Liam
Dawson bowled really well, and kept going well, but things didn't
really go for him at times. There was a bit less pace in the surface
and less sideways movement than early in the game.
"We have a week off now next week and we know what
we have to do in our last match, against Durham at the Ageas Bowl.
We have to win that match because, as it stands, we are only eight
points behind Warwickshire, who also have just one game to play.
"Let's also see what happens next week, when
Durham and Lancashire play, and we'll certainly know exactly what we
have to do when we start that final match. Spin could be an option
for us against Durham - but let's wait and see."
Vince, meanwhile, also quashed a twitter rumour
that he was considering a move to Essex in the winter. The England
Test batsman said: "I don't know where that came from. It's totally
inaccurate. I've got three years left on my contract at Hampshire
and I'm very happy at the club."
Gareth Batty, Surrey's captain, said: "It was a
different type of pitch here to what you normally see at the Oval.
It's a big thing for a team to come here and take the option of an
uncontested toss and bowl first, but there was seam movement early
on and also the overhead conditions helped a lot.
"I thought Rory Burns's hundred on the first day
was an exceptional innings and crucial in this match. He's been
playing really well for a long time now - last season as well as
this one. England keep talking about who is going to open the
batting for them with Alastair Cook. Well, what about Rory?
"As for the match as a whole, we didn't bowl very
well as a group and we didn't field as well as we can. We need to
address that, but the boys batted it out extremely well today, led
by the great Kumar."
TEA REPORT
Kumar Sangakkara and Arun Harinath batted almost
through the afternoon session at the Kia Oval to take Surrey nearer
to the safety of a draw and deny Hampshire a victory to ease their
relegation worries in the Specsavers County Championship's Division
One.
At tea Surrey were 215 for 3 with Sangakkara on 65
not out after a stand of exactly 100 with his fellow left-hander
Harinath, who made 57. Until Harinath was caught at the wicket off
Sean Ervine's medium pace, shortly before the interval, Hampshire's
only bowling successes of the final day had come in the morning
session when they dismissed both openers, Rory Burns and Dominic
Sibley.
Surrey had started the day on 23 for no wicket,
needing a further 230 runs to make Hampshire bat again, and by tea
that deficit was down to 38 with a draw looking an almost certain
outcome.
Liam Dawson, who bowled his tidy left-arm spin
unchanged from the Vauxhall End during the first session, and then
all but three overs from the same end between lunch and tea, made
the initial breakthrough by having Burns smartly caught at short leg
for 18 in his sixth over of the day.
Sibley, on 44, then fell for the second time in
the match to a diving legside catch by Lewis McManus, the
wicketkeeper, as he aimed a back foot flip off his hip against the
pace of Brad Wheal.
Sangakkara, however, who nonchalantly drove his
first ball, from Dawson, to the extra cover boundary, held
Hampshire's attack at bay with some classy batting while it was to
Harinath's great credit that he suffered little by comparison to the
great former Sri Lankan captain in their third wicket stand.
LUNCH REPORT
Hampshire dismissed both Surrey openers, Rory
Burns and Dominic Sibley, in a hard-fought morning session as they
sought a final day victory to ease their relegation worries in the
Specsavers County Championship's Division One.
At lunch Surrey, who had started the day needing a
further 230 runs to make Hampshire bat again on 23 for no wicket in
their second innings, had reached 108 for 2 with Kumar Sangakkara on
28 not out and Arun Harinath unbeaten on 10. They still trailed by
145 runs.
Liam Dawson, who bowled his tidy left-arm spin
unchanged from the Vauxhall End during the first session, made the
initial breakthrough by having Burns smartly caught at short leg for
18 in his sixth over of the day.
Sibley, on 44, then fell for the second time in
the match to a diving legside catch by Lewis McManus, the
wicketkeeper, as he aimed a backfoot flip off his hip against the
pace of Brad Wheal.
Sangakkara, however, who nonchalantly drove his
first ball, from Dawson, to the extra cover boundary, held
Hampshire's attack at bay until the interval while Harinath settled
in nicely alongside him.
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