Surrey cover good ground with the bat and in the field, as they find themselves in a position of strength against Gloucestershire after a productive day two in Bristol.
Furthering their overnight score of by 180 runs, Surrey posted a healthy total of 354 in their first innings, thanks to Nick Kimber’s outstanding knock of 77 off 134, before the Three Feathers, spearheaded by Conor McKerr (3/20) and James Taylor (3/30), did the job with the ball, removing eight Gloucestershire batters and leading the hosts by 192 runs at stumps.
If it was Surrey who took the initiative and played bold cricket yesterday, Gloucestershire started the morning of day two quickly as the hosts picked up Stuart Van der Merwe (0) and McKerr (1) inside the first three overs.
Van der Merwe edged a Zaman Akhter full delivery and was safely caught behind by Tom Lace before Luke Charlesworth dismissed McKerr from the other end, leaving Surrey 177/5.
The new pairing of Josh Blake (39) and Kimber anchored Surrey’s innings from there on, adding 59 runs together off 114 deliveries and guiding the Three Feathers to 233 before an accurate William Naish bouncer found Blake’s glove as the ball then looped into the waiting hands of Robert O’Donnell in the slips.
Within the next four runs, Surrey also lost number eight Dan Moriarty (4), who was caught at gully by Louis Shaw off the bowling of Naish in the 57th over.
With just three wickets in hand and the visitors on 237/7, it was looking increasingly likely that Gloucestershire would cancel out Surrey’s impressive start and restrict them under 300. The Three Feathers’ lower order, however, ensured that their hosts’ plans didn’t come to fruition as Surrey collected 117 more runs before getting all out, finishing on 354.
After the fall of the seventh wicket, Kimber was joined by Taylor, and the pair increased Surrey’s total by 40 runs. On 277/7, Taylor’s aerial cut shot was caught by Shaw at point, bringing Nathan Barnwell to the crease.
With just two wickets remaining, Kimber and Barnwell decided to go on the aggressive and put the hosts under the pump, scoring 61 quick runs off 57 deliveries, before Kimber’s brilliant knock, which had functioned as a glue to Surrey’s innings on day two, was ended by spinner Ed Middleton, leaving Surrey 338/9.
For the final wicket, Barnwell and Amar Virdi combined for 16 runs and made sure that Surrey crossed 350, ultimately ending their innings on 354.
For the hosts, Naish (3/73) and Charlesworth (2/44) were the pick of the bowlers.
On a sunny evening, Shaw and Joe Phillips headed out to face Surrey’s opening pair of McKerr and Taylor. Landing the new ball in testing areas regularly and bowling economically, both of them were soon rewarded with a wicket a-piece.
In his second over, McKerr’s outswinger surprised Shaw as he nicked the ball to wicketkeeper Josh Blake on a score of 4.
With Gloucestershire on 20/1, Taylor brought Blake into action again as the seamer found the outside edge of Phillips for 4.
The pairing of number three Naish and number four Lace steadied the ship for Gloucestershire, pushing the visitors to 87/2, before Kimber broke the partnership, getting Lace (26) caught in the slips.
Following the end of the budding 67-run third-wicket stand, Surrey kept the pressure on the hosts, not allowing them to settle in the middle by taking wickets at regular intervals.
Back into the attack, Taylor got the set batter Naish caught and bowled for a promising 47, leaving Gloucestershire on 100/4. 13 runs later, left-arm spinner Moriarty rapped the back pad of O’Donnell, dismissing him lbw for five.
The hosts could add only 16 runs before their sixth wicket fell as Taylor surprised Max Dunne with a yorker and seized his third scalp of the innings, getting Dunne lbw for 14.
Not long after, Gloucestershire lost their seventh in the shape and form of their captain Dominic Goodman, who played a loose flick shot in the air that was caught by Virdi at mid-wicket off McKerr.
With the score being 138/7, Middleton was joined by Akhter at the crease, and the lower-order batters tried to resist Surrey’s bowling on-slaught, but it didn’t last too long as McKerr breached Akhter’s defence and got him plumb in front for 11.
Trailing Surrey by 192 runs, Gloucestershire closed on 162/8, with Middleton (20*) and Jared Warner (1*) in the middle.
Play will resume on day three at 11 am.
A match report from day one is here.
