SURREY V WARWICKSHIRE - Specsavers County
Championship - 4 July 2016
Surrey 273 & 177. Warwickshire 449 & 5-0. Warwickshire won by 10
wickets.
Warwickshire cruised to a comfortable victory in
the Specsavers County Championship as Surrey continued to struggle
on their return to the top flight. The visitors won by ten wickets
with a day to spare at Guildford inflicting the fifth Championship
defeat of the season on Surrey. Having trailed Warwickshire by 176
on first innings Surrey looked to be responding well when 105-1 at
tea, but they capitulated to 177 all out.
Only three Surrey batsman reached double figures
in the face of disciplined seam bowling and Jeetan Patel's accurate
off-spin. The former Kiwi international took ten wickets in the
match, 5-62 in the first innings, 5-61 in the second. Rory Burns
(68) and Zafar Ansari (40) had given Surrey a platform but after
their partnership was broken only Steven Davies, last out for 44,
offered any resistance.
In the morning Keith Barker had been the prime
contributor as Warwickshire, 345-6 overnight, extended their lead by
104. Barker made 65 at almost a run-a-ball, ably supported by Patel
(31). The pair adding added 76 for the eighth wicket before Mark
Footitt, enjoying a return to action after more than two months out
with injury, brought the innings to a swift close with three wickets
in 11 balls. Footitt finished with 4-57, his best figures since
switching from Derbyshire to Surrey during the winter.
Barker, miscuing a hook, had fallen to a decent
over-the-shoulder-catch by Arun Harinath. Revenge was swift as he
dismissed the Surrey opener for a duck. Burns and Ansari were
thereafter content to see off Barker's testing opening spell, either
side of lunch, of 12-1 off nine overs before gradually accelerating
to add 97 in the middle session.
However, soon after the resumption Burns, still
seeking his first century of the season, tried but failed to
withdraw his bat, playing on to Patel. Two overs later Ansari
followed, caught at close quarters off Patel for 40. Meanwhile Aaron
Finch, who hit the first ball of his Surrey career for six on
Saturday, going on to make 110, had begun more circumspectly this
time. He was yet to hit a boundary when he edged his 15th ball to
Tim Ambrose behind the stumps to depart for seven. Warwickshire's
celebrations underlined the view that his was the key wicket.
This opinion was reinforced as Sam Curren was
caught behind driving ambitiously for a duck, then Ben Foakes was
leg before playing no stroke for one. That left Surrey 123-6, still
53 behind. Though Tom Curran and Gareth Batty hung around long
enough for Davies to steer Surrey past the ignominy of an innings
defeat they could only edge one run ahead.
With only an over of scheduled play remaining Ian
Bell claimed the extra half-hour, but only five balls were required
before Varun Chopra found the boundary to complete a victory that
gives further credence to the Bears' title challenge.
Jeetan Patel said: "It is so hard to win games in
this league, every team is really good. We went in at tea and the
conversation was all about doing the hard yards and then eventually
it will pay you back. We were lucky when Rory played on then we got
Zafar so the conversation was perfect. All we wanted was a sniff, we
knew if we got one wicket we would get two or three."
Victory takes Warwickshire too, albeit the rest of
this round of matches is still to be completed, but Patel added:
"There is still a long way to go, no one is talking about [being
top]."
Alec Stewart, Surrey's director of cricket, said:
"Burns and Ansari showed the way, they played tough cricket,
unfortunately there was then a collapse. The batting is faulty. I
thought we bowled well, our bowling is moving in the right
direction, but our batting isn't. That is an issue. If you are only
making scores of 270, and not batting four sessions, you are making
it very hard for the bowlers. There are players with talent, but
they are not battle-hardened cricketers. They will get there, but we
need to see some results soon."
TEA REPORT
It was steady rather than spectacular, but no less
valuable for that as Rory Burns led Surrey's fightback against a
daunting 176-run first innings deficit in their Specsavers County
Championship match against Warwickshire at Guildford. Burns, still
seeking his first century of the season, struck an unbeaten 66 as
Surrey reached tea 105-1, 71 runs behind.
Warwickshire, 345-6 overnight, added 104 in the
morning largely thanks to a bright 70-ball innings of 65 from Keith
Barker. He was given staunch support by Jeetan Patel (31), the pair
adding adding 76 for the eighth wicket before Mark Footitt wrapped
up the innings with three wickets in 11 balls. Footitt finished with
4-57 in his first match since suffering injury in April.
Barker proved just as tricky with the ball having
Arun Harinath caught behind for a duck in a testing opening spell,
either side of lunch, of 12-1 off nine overs. Burns and Zafar Ansari
(37 not out) were content to see him off before gradually
accelerating in the afternoon.
LUNCH REPORT
Keith Barker rattled a swift half-century as
Warwickshire built a healthy first-innings lead over Surrey in their
Specsavers County Championship match at Guildford, then followed up
with a quick wicket as their hosts batted again.
Barker cracked 65 in 70 balls with 11 fours as the
visitors were dismissed for 449 shortly after midday on the third
day. Barker eventually was out mis-hooking Mark Footitt who picked
up three wickets in the session to finish with 4-57 on his return
after two months out injured. These were his best figures since
moving to Surrey from Derbyshire in the winter.
Trading bat for ball Barker had Arun Harinath
caught behind without scoring as Surrey reached lunch at 12-1, still
164 behind.
Resuming at 345-6 overnight Warwickshire soon lost
Rikki Clarke, on his former club ground, for 17, but Barker and
Jeetan Patel then added 76 for the eighth wicket. Patel departed to
a smart slip catch from Rory Burns for 31, the first of three
wickets for 14 runs as Footitt mopped up.
GO TO:
BACK TO:
|