BATTY HITS TIMELY FIRST HUNDRED OF THE SEASON by Marcus Hook
Surrey 378 v Hampshire 28-2.

For once, it turned out to be a good day for Surrey. It began with the home side winning the toss for the seventh time on the trot in the County Championship and ended with them reducing Hampshire to 28 for two after racking up a respectable first innings total of 378. But, in between, fortunes ebbed and flowed.

The Ovalites made an equally unimpressive start before benefiting from Scott Newman being dropped on nought and Mark Butcher being granted a reprieve with just one to his name. Both left-handers went on to make valuable half-centuries, but the starring role belonged to Jonathan Batty, who struck a timely first hundred of the campaign – 124 off 212 balls. The Surrey stumper was another who benefited from a let-off, when, on 34, he was caught off one of the two no-balls to be bowled in the day by Hampshire, or, to be more precise, Sean Ervine.

With the loss of the opening day to the elements, those hankering for the return of three-day cricket have been given their wish in this match. Had Hampshire taken their chances the game might now be well advanced, but thanks to Batty the possibility of this contest ending in a positive result appears to be 50:50.

Since a draw would do neither side any favours, however, the game looks set to go one of two ways. If the hosts continue to make inroads this morning, Hampshire will find themselves under pressure as a direct consequence of their failings in the field. The more likely scenario, though, is that the visitors, who bat all the way down, will put their innings back on track on what appears to be a decent batting surface, thus putting the ball in Surrey’s court in terms of, perhaps, a bold declaration on Saturday afternoon.

Miraculously, no play was lost to rain yesterday, despite the forecast and reports of rain falling elsewhere in London. Richard Clinton, in the side due to the absence of Graham Thorpe, who was forced to withdraw with back spasms, went to his first ball, caught at slip off Andy Bichel. Five overs later Mark Ramprakash had a rare failure when he was trapped leg before by James Bruce. But then Newman raced to 46 off 34 balls courtesy of a plethora of boundaries behind square on the off-side, and brought his fifty up in the thirteenth over.

Nine overs later the 25-year-old opener was undone by Dimitri Mascarenhas for 71 and at lunch Surrey had progressed to 120 for three. Butcher added 47 in 63 balls, including ten boundaries, to what he had at the break before being caught down the leg-side off Bruce, whom the Surrey captain had taken for four successive fours at one point. The former Durham University seamer also accounted for Brown, who, as short and sweet as you can get, despatched him to the boundary twice before departing to his fourth delivery.

Batty advanced to his tenth first-class hundred in 183 deliveries, whilst going past 5,000 career runs in the process. At one stage his 112-run alliance for the sixth wicket with Azhar Mahmood looked like taking the contest away from Hampshire completely. The Pakistan all-rounder struck a delightful 49 off 61 balls, which included a six over long-on off Ervine, but then fell to an outstanding slip catch in the 79th over.

With no sign of Bichel after tea, it fell to the Hampshire skipper Shaun Udal to restrict the flow of runs. Batty hit the veteran off-spinner back over his head for his 20th boundary, but was run out next ball attempting a second to Bruce’s throw from the long-on fence. Tim Murtagh brought up Surrey’s fourth batting point by creaming Ervine through the covers off the back foot, but was put down at mid-on off Udal, shortly after surviving a chance at packward point off Ervine. Udal had the last laugh, however, when he wrapped up the Surrey innings with three wickets in four deliveries.

With ten overs to negotiate, Hampshire lost Michael Brown to a superb catch by Batty, low to his right, and Sean Ervine, who was attempting to cut the last ball of the fourth over.

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