HONOURS
EVEN AT THE OVAL by Marcus Hook
Surrey 322 & 342-6d v Northamptonshire 376 & 211-5. Match
drawn.
Surrey are notoriously slow starters in the County
Championship. Admittedly, in recent years they have tended to start
slowly and get slower, but there are a number of positives that Rory
Hamilton-Brown's young charges can draw from this encounter.
Hamilton-Brown's touch with the bat, Zander de Bruyn's ability to
pace an innings, Tim Linley's superb display of seam bowling on day
two and Stuart Meaker's ferocious pace, which, at one stage
yesterday looked as though it would hasten the Oval outfit to
victory. But then Andrew Hall and Niall O'Brien dug in, putting on
an unbeaten 43 for Northamptonshire's sixth wicket to ensure the
match ended, much as it had been throughout, with honours even. It
now means Surrey have only recorded one win in 15 championship
curtain-raisers.
Having been set a very tempting 289 in a minimum
of 66 overs, Northants lost Stephen Peters five overs into their
chase, when Stuart Meaker beat the former Essex and Worcestershire
man for pace. But the visitors made light of the setback and, with
Mal Loye and Rob White joining forces, might have been entertaining
thoughts of a dramatic victory during the pair's enterprising second
wicket stand of 77, which ended when White was leg before,
attempting to sweep Chris Schofield, in the 22nd over.
Alex Wakely brought the hundred up for Northants
by dancing down the pitch and despatching Schofield to the rope at
extra cover. Shortly before tea, Loye moved to his first
half-century of the new campaign, which included a straight six off
Gareth Batty, with a drive through extra cover for four. It had
taken the 38-year-old 101 deliveries.
Northants went into the final session requiring
167 in 32 overs. But Loye departed to the seventh ball after the
break when, looking to drive Schofield through cover, he too was
adjudged lbw. David Sales got himself off a pair with a swept four.
Two balls later, Sales slog swept Schofield into the Wedlake Bell
Family Enclosure for six.
In the next over, Wakely lifted Batty into the
pavilion for a maximum, a shot he repeated off Schofield five overs
later; immediately before driving the 32-year-old straight up the
ground for four to make it 166-3. But Northants' positive intent
evaporated when Meaker parted Sales's middle and leg stumps and, two
overs later, plucked out Wakely's middle pole.
Going into the final hour, which began with
Surrey's over-rate at plus ten, the visitors needed 104 with five
wickets remaining, but the last word belonged to bad light and light
rain, which arrived at 5.42pm.
Earlier, Surrey made full use of the morning
session by adding 160 to their overnight total. Zander De Bruyn on
drove the second ball of the day for four and swept James
Middlebrook to the square leg boundary four overs later.
But then the hosts lost their nightwatchman Tim
Linley to White's googly. That brought Tom Maynard to the crease.
The Welshman proceeded to put on 69 in fifteen overs for the sixth
wicket in tandem with de Bruyn, making a bright and breezy 40 in
process.
Maynard perished in the 90th over, losing his
middle stump to Lee Daggett in an attempt to force the 28-year-old
through mid-off, though not before de Bruyn had deposited Chaminda
Vaas straight back over his head for six.
Schofield showed that his pre-season form with the
bat was no flash in the pan by treating the crowd to a wonderfully
entertaining 37 in 23 deliveries, which included two successive
maximums followed by an exquisite cover drive for four off Andrew
Hall as Surrey collected 34 runs off the last two overs before
lunch.
At the interval, de Bruyn had progressed his score
to 91 off 178 balls, but the South African had to forego the chance
of registering his first hundred at the Oval, as well as for Surrey,
who opted to give themselves two entire sessions to force a result.
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