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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