Rory Burns was one of three Surrey half-centurions as Surrey took a first innings lead against visitors Somerset on day two at the Kia Oval.
The Surrey skipper struck 10 boundaries in a fluent 76, sharing a first-wicket stand of 129 with fellow opener Dominic Sibley (53), who passed 50 for the fifth time in six innings this season.
England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was the third to reach his half-century with 58 as the hosts reached 321-7 at stumps.
Somerset’s bowlers recovered from a morning where they bowled too full a length, skipper Lewis Gregory leading the way with three for 46, including a double strike with the second new ball, as four wickets fell in the final session.
Having bowled out Somerset for 283 on the cusp of stumps on day one, Burns and Sibley enjoyed a morning of dominance as they begun Surrey’s reply.
Save for the odd ball which bounced a little for those bowling from the Vauxhall End and the odd lbw shout, Burns moved serenely along, Somerset’s bowlers guilty of straying onto the pads too often to feed his trademark shot through mid-wicket. In fact, anything pitched up was quickly seized on as he raced to 50 from 77 balls. The pair reaching lunch one short of the century stand.
If anything, Burns looked even better post lunch, driving with authority to move into the 70s and he appeared destined for a century before Josh Davey produced the ball of the day to remove him.
Bowling around the wicket, Davey extracted bounce and while Burns did everything right, trying to drop his hands, the ball followed him and smacked off the top glove for Kasey Aldridge to pouch the catch at slip.
Ollie Pope was soon bowled by skipper Gregory trying to cut a ball too close to him, but Smith came out bristling with aggression and began with a flurry of boundaries.
Sibley reached his fifty in 151 balls. He was dismissed after uncharacteristically charging spinner Jack Leach and being beaten in the flight as he was bowled.
The deceleration was catching with Smith slowly grinding to a halt despite his continued best efforts to hit the cover off the ball. He too would make it to his half-century before his innings ended with mis-timed pull off Aldridge travelling to mid-on.
By this stage Ben Foakes was in flow, the wicketkeeper employing his wristy shots to good effect, sending successive deliveries from Leach to the fence at point. However, with 50 in sight he was undone by a beauty from back of a length by Gregory with the second new ball which nipped between bat and pad to pluck out the off-stump.
There was further reward for Gregory when Ryan Patel fell cheaply to a superbly judged tumbling catch at long-leg by Leach and Jordan Clark edged behind before the close to limit the home side’s advantage.
Report supplied by the ECB Reporters Network, sponsored from Rothesay.
For more information about Rothesay, please visit www.ecb.co.uk/about/who-we-are/our-partners/rothesay
