Surrey will look to complete a victory over championship rivals Lancashire on the final day of this LV= Insurance County Championship Division One game after they had challenged their opponents to score 444 to win in the fourth innings of the match
By close of play, the home side were 37 without loss, their openers having safely negotiated a testing 11 overs against the Surrey seamers and the leg spin of Cameron Steel.
Vastly more likely than a home win is that Rory Burns’ bowlers will be pressing for a vital triumph themselves on a pitch showing signs of variable bounce after a third day on which England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes had made an unbeaten 103 and Surrey had made 292 for six declared to add to their first-innings lead of 151.
Matt Parkinson’s five wickets for 120 brought his career tally of first-class scalps to 150 but the most significant contribution was made by Foakes, who clubbed his century in 93 balls to maintain his side’s dominance of this game.
Surrey took just on an hour to prise out Lancashire’s last two wickets in the day’s opening exchanges but since the visitors had said they wouldn’t be enforcing the follow-on, Lancashire’s dismissal for 291, was of rather less account.
But Sean Abbott collected his fifth wicket when he Will Williams leg before wicket for 30 and Colin de Grandhomme made an unbeaten 67 in his first competitive innings for his new county. Dan Worrall took the final wicket when he bowled Parkinson for five and Abbott finished with five for 50.
In Surrey’s second innings Burns and Dominic Sibley had few problems in putting on 24 runs before lunch, only for Sibley to be lbw to Williams’ final delivery before the interval. On the resumption, Ollie Pope batted very pleasantly for 38 but then skied a sweep to deep midwicket, where de Grandhomme took a fine catch – and lost his trousers in the process.
The left-handed Ryan Patel then made a rare mess of playing a conventional leg-spinner from Parkinson and was bowled first ball, leaving Surrey on 89 for three and with a lead of 240. Burns reached his fifty off 92 balls but was caught at short fine-leg for 54 when his top-edged sweep off was caught by Dane Vilas, thus giving Parkinson his third wicket of the innings.
The runs and wickets trade-off continued as Surrey sought to achieve a lead with which they could declare. Jamie Smith perished for 13 in similar fashion to Burns, Steven Croft taking the catch off the right-hander’s sweep.
At tea, the visitors were 184 for 5 and their healthy advantage of 335 was extended rapidly on the resumption, even though Jennings posted four men on the boundary and nobody close to the wicket. Foakes reached his second fifty of the game off 57 balls and shared fifty stands with both Cameron Steel and Jordan Clark before getting to his 14th first-class century with a beautifully timed sweep off Parkinson.
Steel made 31 before being bowled, thus becoming Parkinson’s 150th first-class wicket in unlucky fashion when the ball ricocheted off both his legs before dribbling into the stumps. Jordan Clark added a useful 27 not out, although by then most attention was being given to whether Foakes would reach his century and when Burns would declare.
As it turned out, the declaration followed at the end of the over in which Foakes made his hundred, leaving Lancashire to break all kinds of records if they are to win this game.
