A look at everything that happened on the first day of play between Surrey and Hampshire at The Kia Oval in the LV= County Championship.
WHAT HAPPENED
Jordan Clark claimed a career-best 6 for 21 as Surrey brushed aside Group 2 leaders Hampshire for 92 at the Kia Oval and then scored 131 for 1 in reply with both Rory Burns and Hashim Amla batting masterfully on a green-tinged pitch.
Burns was on 61 not out and Amla unbeaten on 59 when bad light ended play at 5.09pm, the Test-class pair adding 100 in 30 overs to put Surrey in control of an LV= Insurance County Championship match that began with Hampshire 36 points ahead of their opponents after only three rounds of games.
With 17 fours between them, Burns and Amla even made batting look comfortable against a below-par Hampshire seam attack despite the early loss of Mark Stoneman for 7, thin-edging Kyle Abbott behind.
Clark, consistently finding movement away from the right-handers, earlier wrecked Hampshire’s in-form batting line-up in cold, overcast conditions. Kemar Roach and Rikki Clarke also bowled testingly, each taking two wickets, with keeper Ben Foakes finishing with five catches and Clarke three.
All-rounder Clark’s bustling fast-medium proved too hot for Hampshire to handle after he was brought on for the 15th over, with the visitors having battled hard to reach 37 for 1 after being put in. The 30-year-old struck his first blow in his third over, Sam Northeast slicing to second slip to go for 4.
Three overs earlier Clarke had removed Tom Alsop for 5, thin-edging a beauty to Foakes as he pushed forward, and now Hampshire plunged dramatically from 44 for 2 to 44 for 6 as Clark took three wickets in seven balls and Clarke sent back opener Ian Holland, lbw for 22 in the 20th over. All in all, four batsman fell in 13 balls.
Clark followed up Northeast’s scalp by having James Vince caught behind with the last ball of the same over and then, with the fourth ball of his next over, producing another away-swinger that Liam Dawson edged to second slip.
West Indies fast bowler Roach, who had made Surrey’s initial breakthrough with the new ball when Joe Weatherley nicked to a diving Foakes on 9, returned to have Scott Currie caught behind for 4 and at lunch Hampshire were 70 for 7.
The second ball after the interval, a perfect leg-cutter from Clark, saw Abbott edge to second slip on 4 and only Lewis McManus, hitting a couple of gorgeous driven fours in an unbeaten 31, resisted as Brad Wheal, held at second slip for 5, and Mohammad Abbas, smartly caught low down at first slip by Burns, fell in successive balls to the rampant Clark.
SCORECARD & LIVE CLIPS
Click here to see the full scorecard with clips of each key moment available to view too.
TEAM LINEUPS
Surrey XI: Burns, Stoneman, Amla, Pope, Foakes, Smith, Clark, Clarke, Overton, Roach, Virdi
Hampshire XI: Weatherley, Holland, Alsop, Northeast, Vince, Dawson, McManus, Currie, Abbott, Wheal, Mohammad Abbas
ELSEWHERE IN GROUP 2
Every Surrey home match will be available to view either on kiaoval.com or Sky Sports this season. Away matches will be streamed by the county hosting the match and shared here where possible.
The best way to get your seat at The Kia Oval when restrictions allow is with a 2021 Membership, starting from £69 for adults and £20 for U16s.
