Surrey preserved their single-point advantage at the top of the Rothesay County Championship Division One at Scarborough.
They took 14 points from a draw against Yorkshire to stay just ahead of Nottinghamshire going into this week’s clash with Durham at Chester-le-Street.
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Rewards might have been greater but for rain washing out all but 14.1 overs of the second day’s play, having already chopped off 10 overs from the first.
That meant forcing a victory at North Marine Road was always going to be difficult, a true but slow pitch and the unhelpful Kookaburra ball proving an insurmountable challenge to the bowlers.
Relegation-threatened Yorkshire, who had won the toss, presented a formidable enough obstacle given they reached 517-6dec, an innings which was stretched into the third day by Matthew Revis cracking an entertaining 110no from 134 balls against Surrey’s flagging attack.
Finlay Bean (57), James Wharton (78), Will Luxton (71) and skipper Jonny Bairstow (72) had already put the hosts in a strong position.
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Dan Worrall (3-94) and Indian left-arm spinner Sai Kishore, who took 2-119 in a marathon stint of 35 overs, bore much of the burden.
With time already starting to run short, Surrey’s priority was to seek full batting bonus points, for which they were given the ideal start by skipper Rory Burns (78) and Dominic Sibley (52) putting on 134.
When Sibley passed 21, he became the first player this season to pass 1,000 runs.
His haul includes three centuries, led by a career-best 310 against Durham.
Ryan Patel’s 92 – taking on the short ball and narrowly evading catchers patrolling the legside – saw him add 115 for the fourth wicket with Dan Lawrence (72), but when the former departed early on day four it was 346-5, with 104 runs needed in 14.3 overs for maximum batting points.
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But Josh Blake, having kept impeccably in deputising for injured Ben Foakes, also showed what a fine batsman he is in making 72 – his maiden Championship half-century – to oversee a successful chase alongside Jordan Clark (39).
A 50-run stand for the final wicket between Matt Fisher (38) and Worrall (18) gave Surrey an unexpected lead of 20 and they had the opportunity to put the hosts under pressure, not least with Bairstow having departed to join his partner as she gave birth.
It always seemed an unlikely heist given time was running out but Kishore and Will Jacks claimed two wickets each before the end came at 120-5, Nottinghamshire’s draw with Hampshire meaning they could not overtake Surrey.
Following the return with Durham, the Championship goes into deep freeze until September as white ball cricket dominates August.
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While the Hundred takes up much of the attention – Surrey lose 15 squad members to it – the counties will be playing in the Metro Bank Trophy.
Surrey start their campaign with two matches at Guildford’s Woodbridge Road ground, hosting Leicestershire on August 6 and Gloucestershire two days later.
That’s followed by a return to the Kia Oval, taking on Glamorgan, on August 13.
Full Metro Bank Trophy programme – Wed August 6: Leicestershire (Guildford); Fri 8: Gloucestershire (Guildford); Wed 13: Glamorgan (Kia Oval); Fri 15: Essex (Chelmsford); Mon 18: Hampshire (Kia Oval); Fri 22: Derbyshire (Derby); Sun 24: Nottinghamshire (Trent Bridge); Tues 26: Worcestershire (New Road).
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