A resilient Surrey Second XI side couldn’t hold out for a draw after being bowled out for 170 as they chased a total of 282 to win their final three day Championship match of the season against Glamorgan.
Surrey knew that if they were to stand any chance of winning their three day game at Guildford they would have to take early wickets, and this is exactly what they did.
With the Glamorgan lead growing fast – and a dangerous partnership between Jeremy Lawlor and Anuerin Norman evolving – the home side needed a breakthrough and got one when Norman was stumped off the bowling of Van der Bergh for 38.
Two overs later Surrey also got the wicket of Lawlor, bowled by van den Bergh for 35 to leave Glamorgan 233/7. Gregory Holmes and Andrew Salter were the next pair in and began to score quickly, both finding multiple fours off the bowling of Dunn and Van der Bergh.
Just as the game was starting to slip away from Surrey though, Usman Tariq was brought into the attack and took the wicket of Salter for eighteen, caught behind by Matthew Laidman and the same bowler got the ninth wicket eight overs later when Dan Lewis-Williams was stumped for 16.
Chris Ashling was the last man in and was bowled soon after by Rory Hamilton-Brown to leave Glamorgan 208 all out.
This set Surrey a target of 282 to win from 64 overs and they got off to a steady start as openers Tariq and Dominic Sibley got them through to the lunch break with fourteen runs for no loss of wicket.
After the lunch break Tariq started to put the runs on the board for Surrey with fours through backward point and mid wicket. However, it was Sibley at the other end who was to fall for eight of the bowling of Michael Reed, trapped LBW.
Then, in the very next over Tariq edged a ball from Norman to the slips to depart for 27 and leave Surrey 45-2.
That quickly became 49-3 as Hamilton-Brown came to the crease but quickly departed for a duck after being bowled by Norman. With Surrey in danger of a middle order collapse, Tom Lancefield and Tom Jewell arrived in the middle.
The pair initially scored slowly and only up nine from the first seven overs until Lancefield, fresh from his first innings century, hit Norman for twelve in one over to take Surrey to 85-3.
Jewell also got in on the act soon after hitting Ashling first through long on for four and then mid-wicket for another boundary before falling to the same bowler, bowled for 25.
Harry Stephens was the next man in and saw Surrey through to tea with the score 117-4 leaving them 165 to win in the final session.
To stand any chance of winning, Lancefield would have to repeat his first innings performance. However, he fell in the first over after tea for 43 when he edged Ashling to stand in wicket keeper Will Bragg.
Stephens soon followed LBW to Salter and Jack Winslade three overs later for six off the bowling of Ashling to leave Surrey in deep trouble on 125-7.
Adam Dyson and George Edwards were able to stick around for twelve overs before Reed came back into the attack and Dyson hit his own wicket before, later in the same over Matt Dunn was caught behind.
Glamorgan only needed one more wicket for victory and found it courtesy of Norman who took the wicket of the determined Edwards to wrap up a 112 run victory for the Welshmen.
This defeat was Surrey’s last Second XI game of the regular season and – despite currently being top of the table after today’s match – all three of Glamorgan, Kent and Hampshire can still catch them and beat them to the title.
Report by Jacob Greenwood
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