Surrey v Yorkshire (County Championship) : Day Three

Yorkshire sought to grind down Surrey rather than go for the quick kill on the third day of the LV Championship match at the Brit Oval yesterday, and if all goes well today they should give new captain, Darren Gough, a dream start to his reign.

Although Yorkshire enjoyed a lead of 250 when they bowled their opponents out shortly before lunch Gough did not enforce the follow-on, preferring instead to set a huge target on a perfect batting pitch.

Craig White then plundered 117 off 131 balls with 11 fours and seven sixes as Yorkshire charged to 266 for seven before the declaration left Surrey to make a massive 517 to win off a minimum of 109 overs.

Surrey closed on 47 for one, Adil Rashid getting a wicket with the final ball of the day, and if they are to achieve their improbable goal they must make the highest winning score ever recorded in Championship cricket.

Although Mark Ramprakash predictably completed his sixth century against Yorkshire (four of them for Middlesex), the Tykes were still mightily relieved to see him go for 115 in the morning when he was caught behind by Gerard Brophy off Jason Gillespie.

Matthew Hoggard dismissed Azhar Mahmood with the last delivery before the new ball was taken and it was Gough himself who wrapped things up by capturing the last three wickets in ten deliveries at a cost of six runs, Rikki Clarke and James Ormond departing off consecutive balls.

Gough's decision not to enforce the follow-on was soon justified as White and Joe Sayers amassed 163 for the first wicket to give Yorkshire their best start in over two years.

After beginning carefully, Sayers played some lovely strokes but he always in the shadows of White who blasted all of his seven sixes off left-arm spinner, Nayan Doshi, most of them resulting from spiraling on-drives.

The pair batted throughout the afternoon session together but Sayers was still on 57 after tea when he was caught by Ramprakash at point for 57 off 136 balls with seven sixes.

The wicket-taker was Doshi and he went on to bag six for 111 as Yorkshire hurried towards their declaration, the only other bowler to claim a victim being leg-spinner, Chris Schofield, who had Jacques Rudolph caught in the deep.

White's 19th first class century for Yorkshire was the sixth of the match - two more than in any previous encounter between the two old rivals. During the course of his innings White completed 12,000 first class runs and then 10,000 for Yorkshire.

Scott Newman and Jon Batty began the Surrey chase with Batty pushing the final ball into the hands of White at silly point.

SCORECARD

Surrey v Yorkshire at The Brit Oval.

Overnight: Yorkshire 594-9 dec (J N Gillespie 123
no, J A Rudolph 122,T T Bresnan 116, A Rashid
86). Surrey 237-5 (S A Newman 124, M R Ramprakash92
no; A Rashid 4-65).

Surrey First Innings
M R Ramprakash c Brophy b Gillespie 115
R Clarke c Brophy b Gough 42
Azhar Mahmood c Brophy b Hoggard 32
C P Schofield not out 0
J Ormond c Brophy b Gough 0
S J Magoffin b Gough 6
Extras (b4 lb6 w1 nb4 pens 0) 15
Total (84 overs) 344
Fall: 1-25 2-221 3-231 4-233 5-237 6-265 7-
334 8-338 9-338
Bowling: Hoggard 13-4-48-2. Gough 8-1-28-3.
Gillespie 10-3-23-1. A Rashid 24-3-105-4. Younis
Khan 9-2-41-0. Bresnan 13-1-49-0. McGrath 2-0-
15-0. Rudolph 5-1-25-0.

Yorkshire Second Innings
C White c Brown b Doshi 117
J J Sayers c Ramprakash b Doshi 57
A McGrath c Clarke b Doshi 2
Younis Khan b Doshi 12
J A Rudolph c Ramprakash b Schofield 28
G L Brophy b Doshi 12
A Rashid b Doshi 19
T T Bresnan not out 4
Extras (b4 lb8 w1 nb2 pens 0) 15
Total 7 wkts dec (58.1 overs) 266
Fall: 1-163 2-169 3-187 4-221 5-231 6-253 7-
266
Did Not Bat: D Gough, J N Gillespie, M J Hoggard.
Ormond 8-2-24-0. Azhar Mahmood 7-0-27-0.
Magoffin 6-1-21-0. Doshi 21.1-3-111-6. Schofield
16-1-71-1.

Surrey Second Innings Close
S A Newman not out 29
J N Batty c White b A Rashid 14
Extras (lb2 nb2 pens 0) 4
Total 1 wkt (13 overs) 47
Fall: 1-47
To Bat: M R Ramprakash, A D Brown, J G E Benning,
R Clarke, Azhar Mahmood, J Ormond, N D
Doshi, C P Schofield, S J Magoffin.
Bowling: Hoggard 3-1-9-0. Gough 4-0-19-0. A
Rashid 4-1-10-1. Gillespie 2-0-7-0.