Surrey completed a comprehensive victory over Sussex on the third morning of the Second XI Championship at Horsham, making quick work of Sussex’s remaining six wickets from last night.
Resuming on 98/4, the hosts bundled over for 196 before the stroke of lunch, losing the match by an innings and 194 runs.
Wicket-keeper-batter C Tear, who closed day two on 47 not out, became the first Sussex player to cross fifty in this fixture, cover-driving Conor Mckerr for a boundary to get there. However, moments later, McKerr got the better of the batter for 53, finding his edge with a good length delivery as Josh Blake grabbed a diving catch behind the stumps.
With Sussex on 104/5, L Carter and the newcomer R Tangirala dug in and added 44 gutsy runs before a charged-up Matt Dunn made inroads and removed both batters, getting Carter caught behind and Tangirala caught at midwicket for 18 runs each.
Sussex having to start from scratch again, with the scorecard reading 149/7, F Wallis and G Ealham began a promising partnership and increased the hosts’ tally by 41 runs before Surrey’s spinners ended the eighth-wicket stand and capped Sussex’s innings in a rush after that.
It was Amar Virdi who found the breakthrough when he got Ealham caught at mid-on for 32. In his next over, the off-spinner struck the front pad of HT Crocombe from around the wicket and pinned him lbw for four, before Yousef Majid got the final wicket, yorking Wallis and dislodging his stumps for seven.
Dunn (3/50) and Virdi (3/59) were the leading wicket-takers for the visitors in the second innings, while McKerr (2/28), Cam Steel (1/33) and Majid (1/13) offered able support.
This emphatic victory was founded on some excellent Surrey performances, including centurions Ryan Patel and Ben Geddes’ mammoth 252-run opening stand on day one, the incredible effort from the Three Feathers’ final two wickets to score 194 runs at a rapid rate as well as Steel’s magnificent spell of six for 50 on day two.
