Published: Sep 12, 2018, 11:43 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 12, 2018, 11:43 AM (IST)
Surrey had claimed two bowling points in the first innings of the match against Worcestershire at New Road. Now Rory Burns, with his fourth hundred of the Championship, has taken them to 213 for 6 by stumps to get them a third point from the match. A defeat against Hampshire at The Rose Bowl have restricted Somerset to 178, which means that Surrey need only four more points to officially clinch this season’s title.
This will be Surrey’s first title since 2002. In fact, since 1971, Surrey’s only title wins have come in the turn-of-the-millennium cluster of 1999, 2000, and 2002.
Worcestershire lost Ed Barnard early, but Wayne Parnell (42) shepherded the tail to add valuable runs for the last three wickets. Parnell will play for Worcestershire for the rest of the season after Ravichandran Ashwin has pulled out.
Then Parnell tore into the Surrey line-up, taking out Mark Stoneman and Dean Elgar for ducks and having Ollie Pope dropped at second slip, on nought. Pope hit back with a 68-ball 48, helping Burns add 97 for the third wicket. Burns stood unfazed at one end, adding 34 with Rikki Clarke and 68 with Tom Curran, and has definitely raised a claim as replacement for Alastair Cook on England‘s Sri Lanka tour later this year.
Brief scores:
Worcestershire 336 (Tom Fell 69, Ross Whiteley 91, Ed Barnard 63; Tom Curran 4 for 61, Morne Morkel 3 for 62) lead Surrey 213 for 6 (Rory Burns 103*; Wayne Parnell 3 for 38) by 123 runs.
