Will Jacks batted brilliantly and so did Tom Lawes, who reached his maiden first-class half-century, as Surrey and Nottinghamshire eventually shared spoils in this well-contested LV= Insurance County Championship fixture at The Kia Oval.
Brett Hutton’s fifth five-wicket haul of the season was a standout performance for the visitors on the final day. Hutton, who spent a portion of day one off the field with what proved to be a cramp, took 5-91 to take his tally for the season in the Championship to 41, putting him alongside Durham’s Chris Rushworth at the top of the bowling charts.
Leg-spinner Calvin Harrison provided great support for Hutton with 3-99 to bowl out the hosts for 340 forty minutes after lunch. This was an impressive effort from the visitors who, already without the services of Jake Ball, injured in the first innings, then lost Dane Paterson to what appeared to be a hip injury after just one delivery with the new ball.
Jacks led the run-scoring for Surrey with an important 60, while he was ably supported by Lawes from the other end, as Surrey reached 340 before getting all out.
The eventual chase was 297 from 52 overs, and with the visitors on 118/1, courtesy of Haseeb Hameed’s 44 not out and Ben Slater’s stylish 39.
Surrey began the day 156 ahead with five wickets down, and Jacks and Lawes, who added 79 runs for the sixth wicket, showed crucial discipline and concentration, ticking the hosts towards a safe third innings total.
The arrival of the new ball saw a flurry of crisp boundaries from Jacks. Paterson’s unfortunate injury appeared to help the host’s cause, but Hutton responded magnificently in adversity, trapping Jacks lbw before the first innings centurion Jordan Clark was dismissed in the same manner.
Lawes reached 50 in 106 balls before Harrison had him superbly caught at slip by Matthew Montgomery. The leg-spinner then turned catcher to remove Sean Abbott and give Hutton his fourth victim.
Jamie Overton (18) and Dan Worrall (18*) increased Surrey’s total by 31 runs before the former became Hutton’s fifth wicket and Surrey’s innings was capped off.
Hameed and Slater saw off the early swing from the Kookaburra in the run chase, the latter more than once despatching the short ball to the fence. However, the run-rate required which had begun at almost six continued to rise. By the time Slater cut Jacks into the hands of Abbott at point from what proved the last ball before tea to depart for 39, that rate was almost seven.
A barrage of short balls from Overton immediately post the tea interval slowed down Nottinghamshire’s progress still further and Hameed and Young batted with few alarms before the 5 pm handshakes.
"We probably missed some key points in the game to push an advantage."
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 13, 2023
Surrey Head Coach Gareth Batty spoke to @backandacross after the draw with Nottinghamshire.
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