Half centuries from Worcestershire's Alexei Kervezee, Ben Smith and Ben Scott confirmed that the wicket at Whitgift School was not the minefield some were predicting it would be come the second half of this contest. Either that, or Surrey's attack is feebler than it looks on paper. With the hosts' lead at just 85, there are only two viable outcomes and neither scenario has Surrey claiming their first championship victory of the season.

The home side will start the final day with two wickets down. After taking a lead of 28 into their second dig, Surrey lost Arun Harinath, pushing forward tentatively to Alan Richardson, in the third over and Stewart Walters in the eighth. Walters collected three fours off Richard Jones's third over, playing with a freedom rarely seen from the 26-year-old. But then Jack Shantry's introduction to the attack saw Walters edge an innocuous delivery to slip.

Earlier, the fifth ball of the day saw Kervezee put down at slip off Chris Schofield. It proved to be expensive for the hosts because Kervezee was not prised out until the fourth over before lunch. Surrey took the second new ball immediately, but other than the delivery that accounted for Moeen Ali in the 83 rd over, which Andre Nel got to lift, the Worcestershire batsmen were rarely troubled.

With Kervezee despatching Iftikhar Anjum through the cover off the back foot for two boundaries in the 82nd over, the Pakistan seamer was swiftly replaced by Jade Dernbach only for Kervezee to take three fours off the 24-year-old in the 86th.

Two overs later, Kervezee went to his fifty in 102 deliveries. In the 102nd over, Smith took his side past the follow-on target by hitting a four straight down the ground of Nel. With Kervezee being trapped on the crease by a googly from Schofield, the visitors were 353-5 at lunch.

Having driven Schofield to the rope at deep extra cover to secure a fourth batting point for his side just before the break, Smith started the afternoon session by clipping Nel off his legs for four in the 113th over, before posting a watchful 110-ball half century with a four past mid-on in the 118th.

Other than Ben Scott's six hit into the sightscreen at the Nottingham Road End off Gareth Batty in the 120th over, the contest meandered for the next hour or so.

With the afternoon session drawing to a close the game appeared to be going nowhere. Afzaal, who had respectable figures of 12-2-26-0, looked as likely as anyone to separate Smith and Scott, who had held Surrey up for 34 overs. But then Dernbach returned at the Chapel End and within the space of seven deliveries accounted for the sixth wicket pair as well as Jack Shantry.

Smith was the first to go, nibbling at one that was drifted invitingly wide of off stump. Three balls later Scott got an inside edge on to his thigh pad to present Walters with a straightforward catch at short leg. In his next over Dernbach went around the wicket and had Shantry caught behind off a defensive push to make it 460-8.

In the third over after tea Richardson, attempting to work Schofield to leg, was out to a return catch and, in the next, Imran Arif lofted a drive to Ramprakash, coming in off the rope at deep mid-wicket, to hand Batty his only success of the innings.

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