Surrey Work Hard on Opening Day at Lord’s

29 July 2010

Surrey were made to work hard on the opening day of their LV= County Championship match against London rivals Middlesex at Lord’s as they were all out for 167 before Middlesex ended the day 179/2.

Surrey made two changes to the side that comprehensively defeated Northamptonshire at the Brit Insurance Oval last week as Tim Linley and Jade Dernbach came in to replace Andre Nel and Stuart Meaker.

Rory Hamilton-Brown won the toss and decided to bat under overcast skies but on a pitch that looked suited towards the batsmen.

Tom Lancefield got Surrey off the mark in the 1st over with a wonderful drive through the covers for four off Tim Murtagh. Steven Davies got his first runs of the morning in the 2nd over when an outside edge off Pedro Collins flew down to the third man boundary.

Davies dominated the strike early on and moved onto 17 in the 6th over as he clipped Collins through mid wicket for four to take Surrey onto 24/0. Davies cut Collins for four to move onto 23 in the 10th over but he was out for 24 in the 13th over when he played on to the top of his leg stump off Murtagh to leave Surrey 39/1.

And that become 43/2 when Collins trapped Lancefield lbw for 15 in the 14th over as Lancefield looked to work around his front pad. And off the very next ball Surrey were 43/3 as Collins had Rory Hamilton-Brown lbw with a tremendous delivery that swung late as the Surrey captain went without scoring.

With both openers removed Mark Ramprakash and Usman Afzaal looked to steady the Surrey innings. Ramprakash pulled Murtagh for four as he moved onto eight in the 15th and repeated the shot two balls later to take Surrey onto 51/3.

The experienced pair played observantly as the Middlesex bowlers found some movement in the air as the ball continued to swing. Toby Roland-Jones was introduced in the 20th over and Ramprakash immediately cut him for four to take his score onto 16. But Neil Dexter and Roland-Jones contained the Surrey pair as they put three consecutive maiden overs together. Roland-Jones then picked up the wicket of Afzaal, on 11, as he trapped him lbw in the 28th over to leave Surrey 69/4. Stewart Walters got his innings moving as he smashed Roland-Jones for back-to-back boundaries as Walters and Ramprakash saw Surrey through to lunch on 80/4.

The pair continued after the interval and Ramprakash ushered the scoring along as he pulled Dexter for four in the 31st over. And he brought up Surrey’s 100 in the 33rd over after he clipped a delivery from Dexter through the leg side for four. In the 34th over Ramprakash found the boundary rope twice against Collins to move onto 44. But Collins struck back immediately as he uprooted Ramprakash’s middle stump to leave Surrey tottering on 108/5.

Surrey were then 116/6 in the 39th over as Murtagh bowled Walters, on 14, with a delivery that swung away late and plucked out his off stump. Gareth Batty came to the crease and played aggressively straight away as he hit Murtagh for three boundaries as Surrey ended the 39th over 128/6.

Despite Batty’s aggression Murtagh continued to bowl with great discipline and picked up the wicket of Batty in the 43rd over as a leading edge flew to Josh Davey at backward point who took a fantastic catch diving away to his right. Batty departed for 15 as Surrey were 142/7. And Murtagh had his fourth wicket three deliveries later as an outside edge by Chris Tremlett was comfortably taken by Neil Dexter at second slip to leave Surrey 144/8.

Jade Dernbach and Matthew Spriegel moved Surrey past 150 as Dernbach hit Murtagh for four in the 45th over before he drove Collins in the 46th to move onto 12. But Surrey were 167/9 in the 46th over as Dernbach got in a tangle to a short short delivery from Collins and the ball went straight to Gareth Berg at backward point for a comfortable catch. And Surrey were all out for 167 in the 47th over as Murtagh had a five wicket haul when a thin outside edge from Matthew Spriegel, on 25, was comfortably taken by Simpson behind the stumps.

Chris Tremlett and Tim Linley opened the bowling for Surrey and bowled tightly as they sought an immediate breakthrough. But Middlesex openers Scott Newman and John Simpson played watchfully through the opening overs. And despite Linley having a loud lbw appeal against Newman, on six, turned down in the 8th over the pair negotiated the first 10 overs with Middlesex on 16/0.

Simpson hit Linley for back-to-back boundaries to move onto 14 with Middlesex 26/0 in the 12th over before Newman pulled Jade Dernbach for four in the 13th as Middlesex went to tea 36/0.

As the skies cleared after tea Simpson brought up Middlesex’s 50 in the 19th over as he pulled a short delivery off Tremlett for six. And Simpson drove Linley through the covers in the 20th over as he moved onto 32 with Middlesex 64/0. Newman and Simpson complimented each other well to take Middlesex into a commanding position on 82/0.

But Surrey broke through in 26th over as Simpson looked to pull Jade Dernbach, but a bottom edge came back onto the stumps and Simpson departed for 36 to leave Middlesex 82/1. Owais Shah brought up Middlesex’s 100 in the 30th over as he flicked Linley to fine leg for four. Newman then reached his half century in the 31st over running two off Tremlett. However he was out for 54 in the 33rd over as he looked to sweep Gareth Batty but the ball hit him in line and he was out lbw to leave Middlesex 113/2.

Following the loss of Newman, Shah and Dawid Malan continued to move the run rate along. Shah pulled Dernbach for six in the 38th over as he took his total to 27 with Middlesex on 140/2 and fast approaching Surrey’s total. Shah then came down the track and launch Batty for six in the 41st over taking Middlesex past 150. The duo continued to the close of play as Middlesex ended the day 179/2, with Shah unbeaten on 44 and Malan 35*.

A tough day opening day for Surrey with both bat and ball, however they know a couple of early wickets tomorrow morning will give them some momentum as they look to get back into the game.

To watch highlights of the 1st day against Middlesex click on the " Play Video " button in the picture at the top of this article.