Notts close in as batsmen spoil bowlers' good work

A poor last session for the Surrey batsman has all but ruined the good work of the bowlers on Day 3 at Trent Bridge.

After managing to bowl Nottinghamshire out for 191, we have ended the day on 73-3 in pursuit of a now unlikely 259 for victory.

With the lead already at 91 overnight, Surrey knew that early wickets were a must if they were to stop the hosts from batting them out of the game. However, night-watchman Luke Fletcher hung around for almost half an hour, striking 26 before Meaker had him caught in the slips after both Solanki and Roy had already given him a life. That took longer than hoped and the lead had raced past 100 in the process.

The rest of the session was blighted by bad light, but while they were out in the middle, Cowan and Lumb looked comfortable at the crease and started to move their side into a very strong position. However, after lunch the bowlers managed to keep it tight, and Dernbach got the breakthrough when a painstakingly slow 20 from Cowan was ended when he played on. Linley then had Lumb LBW, as two wickets fell for no addition, as we started to get slightly back into the game. 

There was nearly a 3^rd wicket in the space of a few overs, but James Taylor, when on 0 was put down by Davies. A tough chance for the ‘keeper, diving to his right, but he could have left it for a relatively simple catch for first slip. Dernbach didn’t let that affect him though, as like he has done twice already this season, he picked up two in two balls, first having the dangerous Taylor caught well by Wilson and then Rikki Wessels caught by Roy first ball. Notts had fallen to 122-6, leading by 189.

After looking good again, Samit Patel was caught off Meaker for 37, and a couple of overs later Meaker had his 4^th when Franks nicked off. In the very next over, the top scorer from the first innings Mullaney could only fend off a delivery from Linley to a diving de Bruyn in the gully with Notts falling to 161-9. The lead had past 230, and anything much more than that was going to be a tough chase on this pitch, so knocking over the last wicket quickly had to be done.

However, the capable Ajmal Shahzad and number 11 Harry Gurney frustrated the bowlers and took the lead past the 250 mark, which could have proved psychologically important. Batty shelled a chance at long off, the 5^th drop of the day, but when Shahzad was run out for 20, Notts were all out for 190, with a target of 259 set.

And in just the 4^th over, we lost our first wicket when Roy got a good one and was caught at slip for 5. Yet another opening stand of less than 10. Harinath then edged behind on 4, and Solanki was inexplicitly run out without scoring, as the top order had buckled to 29-3. Burns looked good however, ending the day on 41, as we closed on 73-3 with bad light bringing a premature end to the day’s proceedings.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate the bowlers who put in a great shift again today. All 3 of the seamers looked dangerous throughout the day and they kept us in the game, but like in the first innings, the batsman couldn’t back them up and it is now an uphill battle to stay in this game. The forecast for tomorrow doesn’t look too good, which could be the only saving grace for us as I can’t see us chasing the further 186 runs needed for victory unless Burns can produce one of the great innings.

Roy got a good delivery but once again failed opening up, and I really hope that a change is made for the next Championship game at Derby at the end of the month. But before that comes about, we have to somehow force something out of the game tomorrow, because otherwise 3 draws and 2 defeats constitutes to a dreadful start to the season.