An undefeated fifth wicket stand of 200 in forty overs between Justin Langer and Ian Blackwell put Somerset firmly in charge on day two at Whitgift. When the pair came together the visitors were in a spot of bother at 135-4. Whereas Langer could cite two moments of fortune, when he offered chances on 0 and 76, Blackwell looked solid in all respects. The 29-year-old all-rounder batted with controlled aggression, hitting three sixes on his way to an unbeaten 104 in 120 deliveries, while his skipper adopted the role of lynchpin to post 111 not out off 160 balls.

Resuming on 280-7, Surrey added 46 in 22 overs to their overnight total, with Jonathan Batty progressing to his second successive unbeaten championship half-century. It was, however, one of the more laboured ones, taking nearly four hours and 167 deliveries to achieve.

In the second full over of the day the Brown Caps' stumper cut Ben Phillips to third man and in the 101st over he played a flat-batted pull back past the 33-year-old for four. Batty was ably supported by Saqlain Mushtaq, but he eventually fell leg before to Charl Willoughby in the 107th over. Saqlain was soon to be followed back to the pavilion by Jade Dernbach, who departed in the next over trying to launch Alfonso Thomas straight down the ground for six.

When Pedro Collins lost his off stump four overs later the home side appeared to have established a decent foothold in the contest, but, in the eight overs available before lunch, Marcus Trescothick and Neil Edwards wasted no time putting 37 on the board.

Edwards collected three boundaries off Matt Nicholson's second over, the first two through extra cover and the third from a pull. In the Australian's fourth over he was driven past mid-off for four by Trescothick, who then found the extra cover boundary with a sweetly timed drive.

The Somerset openers played in a similar vein after the break. It was just beginning to look truly ominous for Surrey when Edwards, driving loosely, was bowled off his pads by Dernbach in the 17th over. Trescothick went two overs later when Mark Butcher held on to a droppable catch at first slip. Surrey's demeanour improved further, notwithstanding handing Langer a life before he had troubled the scorers, when Collins, the unlucky bowler, trapped James Hildreth leg before in the 20th over.

Zander de Bruyn made a brisk 41, which included four boundaries in five balls in the 24th over, which was bowled by Collins. But unlike his captain, the South African never looked secure and in the 32nd over he edged Saqlain to slip where Nicholson did well to hold on to a low catch at the second attempt.

At tea the visitors still had a lot on their plate at 174-4. But five overs after the break Butcher went off with a knee injury, which looked serious enough to force him to bat at seven today, and Mark Ramprakash took charge of the home side, who looked devoid of inspiration thereafter.

Ramprakash refused to recall Dernbach to the attack. Instead, he rightly placed his faith in Saqlain who, despite being hit for three sixes, was the only Surrey bowler who looked like making a breakthrough. In contrast, however, Collins, Nicholson and Usman Afzaal looked totally ineffectual.

Langer brought up the 200, the 250 and the 300 with fours. Somerset's first batting bonus point arrived when he hit Afzaal to the straight boundary in the 45th over; the next two points came from swept fours, the first off Afzaal in the 55th over and the second off Saqlain ten overs later.

Having reached his fifty in 49 deliveries with a six over long-on, Blackwell was the first to progress to his hundred, which arrived in the 67th over, courtesy of a misfiled, 62 balls faced later.

Langer brought up his own century with the second of two fours in the very next over. The first boundary was also the result of some lacklustre fielding, but the second was cleverly angled past the lone slip, Scott Newman, to the third man boundary off Nicholson. The 83rd century of Langer's career came off 141 deliveries; his half-century having taken him 83.

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