Surrey v Essex
LV= Insurance County Championship
The Kia Oval, Tuesday 19 – Friday 22 July
Team News:
Surrey: Rory Burns (c), Ryan Patel, Hashim Amla, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wk), Will Jacks, Cameron Steel, Jamie Overton, Tom Lawes, Kemar Roach, Daniel Worrall.
Essex: Nick Browne, Alastair Cook, Tom Westley (c), Dan Lawrence, Paul Walter, Matt Critchley, Adam Rossington (wk), Simon Harmer, Shane Snater, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter.
Match Details:
Umpires: Neil Bainton & Peter Hartley
Match Referee: Jason Swift
Toss: Essex, who elected to bat
Result: Surrey win by 6 wickets
Scorecard: View Here
Day Four Match Highlights:
Day Four Match Report:
It took Surrey 19.4 final day overs to complete a 6-wicket victory against Essex at The Kia Oval that keeps them on top of the LV= Insurance County Championship Division One table.
Resuming their second innings on 85-2, still requiring 76 more runs, Surrey lost just opener Ryan Patel and all-rounder, Jamie Overton, before clinching a 22-point triumph when they reached 162-4.
Patel, on 22 overnight, took his highly valuable but largely defensive and near 4-hour knock to 38 before playing back to off-spinner Simon Harmer and edging a ball that turned and bounced to keeper Adam Rossington.
Jamie Overton, promoted up the order on Patel’s dismissal in the day’s 16th over, soon responded by swinging Matt Critchley’s leg breaks over mid-wicket for six.
The all-rounder played with attacking intent before being caught off the same bowler for 21, at long off, in trying to end the match with one more blow.
Nightwatchman Tom Lawes, who on 1 was dropped at third slip off Shane Snater in the 5th over of the morning, played some excellent strokes of his own to finish 32 not out from 54 balls.
Ollie Pope, who replaced Overton, reverse-swept the first ball he faced for four to complete Surrey’s victory after 80 minutes’ play on the final day.
Essex take 5 points from the game and will be looking to get back to winning ways with the visit of Somerset to The Cloud County Ground next week.
Day Three Match Highlights:
Day Three Match Report:
Unbeaten Division One leaders Surrey need another 76 runs to beat Essex, with 8-second innings wickets in hand, after fast bowler Dan Worrall took career-best match figures of 11 for 122 at the Kia Oval.
Worrall’s 5/66 was Surrey’s stand-out bowling performance for the second time in the game as Essex were dismissed for 208 to leave Rory Burns’ team chasing 161 to record a sixth LV= Insurance County Championship victory of the season.
By Stumps on Day Three Surrey had reached 85-2, with Burns falling to Simon Harmer’s off-spin for a solid 40 when he skied an attempted slog-sweep to mid-wicket and Hashim Amla edging seamer Shane Snater to second slip for 16 just 3 overs from the close.
But opener Ryan Patel held firm with a steadfast 22 not out, from 108 balls, after Worrall had followed up his 6/56 in Essex’s first innings 271 with another high-class effort in combination with West Indies paceman Kemar Roach, who finished with 3/58 for a 6-wicket match haul.
Resuming on 19-2, still 29 runs in arrears, Essex might have lost Tom Westley leg-before to the very first ball of the day, a perfectly-pitched inswinger from Roach. Opener Nick Browne, meanwhile, had added just 6 to his overnight 9 when he was dropped low down at first slip by Jamie Overton off a disbelieving Roach.
Tom Lawes, though, introduced for the 19th over of Essex’s second innings, struck with his sixth ball to have Westley caught behind by a tumbling Ben Foakes for a 52-ball 32, only for Ollie Pope at second slip to grass a relatively simple chance when Dan Lawrence, on 0, edged a sharply rising ball from Overton straight to him at chest height.
That miss haunted Surrey for the next 21 overs as Lawrence, despite a nervy start, grew more assured to help Browne add 65 for the fourth wicket either side of Lunch and double Essex’s total. Worrall, in particular, troubled both batsmen with his pace and swing but Lawrence also began to take the game to Surrey’s bowlers with a number of fine strokes including a thumping square drive off Lawes, a confident driven boundary through mid off when Worrall overpitched and then another four whipped off his pads against Overton.
It was Lawes however that started an Essex slump that, from 130-3, saw them lose 6 wickets for 37 runs in just 10 overs as Surrey suddenly scented a quick kill.
Browne, wafting at a ball wide of his off stump, edged Lawes to Foakes after battling 101 balls for his 48 and Roach and Worrall then combined to send Essex sliding to 167-9.
Roach, recalled in place of Lawes, saw Paul Walter (9) drive his loosener straight to Burns at extra cover, and in his next over trapped Matt Critchley leg-before for 8 with an off-cutter.
Adam Rossington, Essex’s first innings century-maker, tried to drive Worrall into the offside before he had settled and edged to Overton at first slip to go for 3 and, in that same over, Worrall struck a major blow by having Lawrence lbw for 47, a two-hour innings spanning 99 balls.
Three overs later Roach had a third wicket when Snater (3) chipped him weakly to mid on and it was only Harmer’s defiance, featuring a couple of classy on driven fours as well as pulled and cover boundaries off Roach, that left Surrey, who began this round of games 15 points clear of second-placed Hampshire, with a trickier victory target than expected.
Eventually, with Harmer unbeaten on 38 from 68 balls, Worrall produced a beauty to hit Jamie Porter’s off stump after the No11 had contributed just 2 from 24 balls to a last wicket partnership of 41.
Day Two Match Highlights:
Day Two Match Report:
A rollercoaster day of cricket ended with Essex trailing Surrey by 29 runs with 8 second innings wickets in hand at The Kia Oval.
Much like Day One was dominated by a stunning Adam Rossington century, Day Two belonged to Will Jacks, who went one further in scoring 150* during an innings which showed the sort of versatility that will have England selectors taking notice.
Essex started the day searching for early wickets to press home the advantage they had gained after Lunch on Day One. And for the first session and even much of the second session of play that plan came to fruition.
Sam Cook picked up the early wicket of Rory Burns, hanging a series of deliveries wide outside off stump and then spearing a ball in full and straight and catching Rory Burns on the front pad as his head fell towards cover. It was a classic set-up.
A further two wickets fell before Lunch, with Hashim Amla pulling a short delivery from Jamie Porter to Nick Browne at mid-wicket, before Ollie Pope somehow managed to chip a full ball from Shane Snater to mid-off as he looked to play through the legside.
Snater was the pick of the bowlers for Essex, his 21 overs eventually cost 35 but for much of the day he was going at below 1 an over. His control was exactly what was needed on a pitch with some life in it, but one that required patience on behalf of both the bowlers and the batters.
It was patience that Will Jacks displayed, coming in after the wicket of Pope and seeing Ben Foakes, Cameron Steel and Jamie Overton fall in quick succession after the interval.
Batting with 19-year-old Tom Lawes, who has a first-class average of 10.50, he wasn’t afraid to rotate the strike and showed no signs of panicking despite Surrey still trailing Essex by 159 when the 7th wicket fell.
He and Lawes put on 55 for the 9th wicket with Lawes contributing 19 of those before he fell to Matt Critchley.
Jacks then struck up a similarly self-restrained partnership with Kemar Roach, this time of 85 and taking Surrey almost to parity with Essex. This in itself was remarkable given the scoreline just a couple of hours earlier.
When Harmer was reintroduced to the attack and picked up the wicket of Roach for 29, Jacks then unleashed a brutal array of shots to propel Surrey into the lead.
He cleared his front leg to great effect in hitting 8 sixes in a 10th wicket partnership of 67 where Dan Worrall scored just a single run.
Surrey’s lead had extended to 48 and despite the distinct momentum shift over the course of the evening session, this was now effectively a one-innings game.
The new ball has been dangerous throughout the match and Dan Worrall exploited favourable conditions and a horrible 6-over stint at the end of the day for the Essex batters.
In that time he claimed the wicket of both Cooks, the latter coming in as a nightwatchman, to leave Essex 19-2 at the end of the day and with a massive day in the context of their season ahead of them.
Day One Highlights:
Day One Match Report:
Adam Rossington and Dan Worrall were the first-day heroes at The Kia Oval, with Rossington scoring an extraordinary 100 and Worrall bowling brilliantly to take 6/56 as Surrey and Essex traded fierce blows in blistering oven-like conditions.
Rossington rushed to his century with an exhilarating assault on the second new ball, in Essex’s 271 all out, clubbing Kemar Roach for 3 legside sixes before wearily skying the same bowler to long-on in the 83rd over.
Simon Harmer’s 50 was another fine effort as Essex rallied hard after Worrall had earlier taken 3/0 in 5 balls as the LV= Insurance County Championship leaders initially reduced their opponents to 91-6 by Lunch.
In 9.1 overs’ batting before stumps, Surrey replied with 24-1 with Ryan Patel, pushing forward, caught at second slip for 4 off Sam Cook from what proved to be the final ball of the day. Rory Burns remained 18 not out.
The determined seventh wicket stand of 113 in 41 overs between Rossington and Harmer held up Surrey for more than 2 and a half hours and also blunted an attack that had looked unstoppable in the morning session.
Worrall, Roach and Jamie Overton were all highly impressive in a sustained, top-class exhibition of pacy swing bowling, with only Alastair Cook resisting for long in the opening session as Surrey’s battery of fast and fast-medium bowlers exerted an early stranglehold every bit as oppressive as the near-40 degree temperatures.
Nick Browne got to 10 with a couple of flowing offside strokes before Roach shaped one away from the left-hander from around the wicket to force him to thin-edge to keeper Ben Foakes in the fifth over.
And although Tom Westley did well to dig out a searing Roach yorker early on as he reached 11, helping Cook to take Essex to 50, the Essex Captain became the first of three strikes in quick succession by Worrall when he played around a straight ball and was bowled by the Australian’s third ball back into the attack.
Worrall then pinned Dan Lawrence leg-before for 0 with his next ball and, with the first ball of his next over, made one climb steeply at Paul Walter to have the tall left-hander caught at leg slip off the glove.
Matt Critchley survived two confident lbw appeals by Worrall, who was combining sharp outswing and inswing with exemplary control, and Essex did well almost to reach the sanctuary of the Lunch interval before Surrey’s quicker bowlers intervened again.
Overton, reintroduced 5 minutes before the break by Surrey Captain Burns for a second spell, this time from the Vauxhall End, angled his second ball across Cook to have England’s record Test run-getter well held by Ollie Pope at second slip for a 75-ball 29.
Roach then bowled Critchley for 21 off an inside edge and both Rossington and Harmer had to negotiate a number of leg-before appeals in the afternoon session before reaching tea at 194-6.
Rossington, on 16, also edged a brute of a ball from Overton just out of third slip’s reach for four and, on 28, was close to being lbw to Tom Lawes. Harmer, for his part, narrowly avoided the umpire’s raised finger against Overton on 6 and Roach on 26. The West Indian paceman, in particular, looked frustrated at the not out decision.
Essex started this game on the back of three successive Championship wins but still 47 points adrift of Surrey, albeit with a game in hand, had chosen to bat on a well-grassed surface and Rossington’s heroics made sure they reached a competitive total.
Harmer, having faced 147 balls, was finally lbw to Worrall, who then trapped Shane Snater in front 2 balls later to leave Essex 204-8.
But tailender Sam Cook’s unbeaten 21 was a more than useful hand as 58 more runs were added with Rossington for the ninth wicket. After Rossington had gone to Roach (3/63) for his superb 151-ball and 227-minute effort, featuring those 3 late sixes and 9 fours besides, Worrall finished the innings by having last man Jamie Porter leg-before for a duck.
