Published: Sep 26, 2015, 04:20 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 26, 2015, 05:04 AM (IST)
Surrey emerged Division Two champions in the ongoing County Championship 2015 and were back in Division One in emphatic style after ending their final match of the ongoing season with a draw against Northamptonshire at the Oval on Friday. The moment of realisation happened after the match between Essex and Lancashire came to a conclusion with a draw at Chelmsford, with Surrey’s score reading 58 for three at the time during their chase of the 215-run target. Jason Roy went on to hammer a 35-ball 77, which included eight sixes and four fours, with most of the big-hitting occurring after the announcement. Wicketkeeper-batsman Gary Wilson and Ben Foakes were batting on 13 and 12 respectively as Surrey reached 125 for 5 at the end of the day’s play.
Earlier in the Test, Kumar Sangakkara (101) slammed a century in Surrey’s first innings to guide them to 410. The recently-retired Sri Lankan batting legend hammered 13 fours and a six during his innings, with Wilson (49) and Sam Curran (61*) contributing with valuable knocks of their own. Northamptonshire were in for some rough treatment as the Curran brothers Tom (7 for 35) and Sam (3 for 46) — sons of the late Zimbabwean cricketer Kevin Curran — shared all 10 wickets between themselves to dismiss Northamptonshire to 110. READ: Surrey’s Curran brothers share all 10 wickets against Northamptonshire
Forced to follow-on after their disastrous performance in the first innings, Northamptonshire managed to put up a much better performance as Ben Duckett (120), Adam Rossington (116) and David Murphy (135 not out) struck centuries, with Alex Wakely (93) missing out on the same by seven runs as they piled 514 runs to set the 215-run target.
Nicely done gents pic.twitter.com/0R7owRKmiw
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) September 25, 2015
Every single person in that room can be really proud of themselves. For the next six months they can look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘I did what I had to do last summer’,” Surrey skipper Gareth Batty was quoted as saying according to a report on ESPNCricinfo.
“That was something that we set out for at the start. Modern sport is not just about 11 blokes, particularly cricket. Even if you’re not in the team or the squad the whole time, you have an equal share how we carry ourselves, how we move forward.
“To a man, every single one of them has grabbed hold of that. Every single person up there can be really proud of themselves,” added Batty.
Brief scores:
Surrey 410 (Kumar Sangakkara 101, Sam Curran 61*; Graeme White 3 for 81) and 125 for 5 (Jason Roy 77; Graeme White 2 for 25) drew with Northamptonshire 110 (Tom Curran 7 for 35, Sam Curran 3 for 46) and 514 (Ben Duckett 120, Alex Wakely 93, Adam Rossington 116, David Murphy 135*; Matt Dunn 4 for 104, Tom Curran 3 for 141) by 77 runs.
