It was fitting, perhaps, that Surrey's most dominant display in four-day cricket for four years ended with Mark Ramprakash claiming the winning catch at mid-on. The victory had been set-up by Ramprakash's innings of 248. It was rounded off, however, with an awesome display of fast bowling by Chris Tremlett, who claimed three wickets in the space of nine deliveries, and Stuart Meaker.

Realistically, Surrey need to win four of their remaining six championship games to be in with a chance of promotion, but should their attack continue to benefit from the level of fielding on show yesterday, then anything is possible. The one-handed catch Andre Nel took at first slip to dismiss Alex Wakely was out of the top drawer. David Sales fell victim to one which was almost as good. Tom Lancefield and Usman Afzaal also claimed chances that would have routinely gone to ground.

When Stephen Peters and Ben Howgego were proving tough nuts to crack, and, in the process, combining for an opening stand of 96 after being re-inserted, there was no real hint of the carnage that was to follow Peters's demise in the 35th over.

In the third over, Peters on drove Nel for four. In the next, Howgego helped Tremlett to the rope at third man. After lunch, Peters drove Nel through the covers off the back foot before working Tremlett to the boundary at backward square leg.

When spin was introduced, Howgego sliced Batty through backward point for four. Five overs later, the 22-year-old left-hander cut Afzaal in front of square on the off-side for another boundary. Peters, who had swept and cover driven fours off Batty, went to fifty in the 33rd over, when he cut Nel past the outstretched hand of Matthew Spriegel at backward point. But, two overs later, the rot began when Peters fended a rising delivery to gully.

Four wickets fell with Northamptonshire's total on 96. With the very next delivery, Tremlett plucked out Howgego's off peg. Three balls later, Sales was caught low down at first slip to record his third duck in four innings this season against Surrey. In Tremlett's next over, Rob White chopped a short delivery on to the base of his leg stump.

Meaker was then introduced from the Vauxhall End. In the 48th over, Wakely departed to Nel's stupendous catch, high and to his right. Four overs later, Andrew Hall, squared up, was caught low down at point off a thick outside edge. In the 56th over, Elton Chigumbura went to a stinging catch at third slip; though not before he had lifted Meaker over extra cover for six.

Two overs later, Meaker claimed a fourth scalp when David Murphy was beaten for pace, which prompted the visitors' tail, led by James Middlebrook, to play some forceful shots. Middlebrook and David Lucas put on 35 in seven overs for the ninth wicket before Afzaal ran twenty yards to his left to claim an astonishing catch at wide mid-off. Three overs later, this time with the ball, he applied the coup de grace.

Earlier in the day, proceedings were delayed for twenty minutes by rain. But after resuming on 174-8, the Northants tail added a further 66 runs to the visitors' first innings total. Murphy and Lucas eked out another 24 in nine overs before Jack Brooks rounded things off with an exhilarating 36 from 22 deliveries.

The first boundary of the day arrived in the fifth over, when Lucas squirted the ball past cover point. Two deliveries later, Batty was taken for another four when Lucas drove him to the rope at extra cover. Murphy survived a sharp chance, low and to the left of Rory Hamilton-Brown at second slip, off the bowling of Meaker in the 64th over. But, moments later, Batty had Murphy trapped leg before.

That brought Brooks to the crease. The 26-year-old proceeded to play with complete abandon, immediately despatching Batty through the covers for four before depositing him into the Peter May Enclosure for a maximum. In the next over, Brooks dabbed Meaker down to the rope at third man. Two overs later, he had the audacity to cut the 21-year-old fast bowler over cover point for a six.

Brooks had not finished. He clubbed another maximum, this time over square leg off Batty, before sweeping the ball straight to backward square to give the former England off-spinner his first five-wicket haul in a Surrey shirt.

GO TO:

BACK TO: