Surrey out of bottom two as Batty inspires last-ditch win

Surrey 637 for 7 (Foakes 141*, Burns 122, Batty 110*, Sibley 99, Finch 86, Berg 3-85) beat Hampshire 423 (McManus 132*) and 201 (McLaren 59, Batty 6-51, Meaker 4-40) by an innings and 13 runs Scorecard

It is hard to remember a Championship win that asked more of a bowling side. The pitch, for much of this game, looked like it would take the points and a few bowlers with it. Most of the Ageas Bowl pitches have. But with great focus and effort, and the sort of performance from Gareth Batty that will be remembered well beyond his career, Surrey sent Hampshire down for an innings and 13 runs.

Batty was not so much leading from the front as picking up those around him, yapping under the helmet and then getting the job done himself. A century in the first innings began his work before two for 78 in the Hampshire reply was bested by a sensational six for 51 in the follow-on. Throw in Stuart Meaker’s reverse swing addled 18 overs of four for 40, and you wonder where the doubt in obtaining a result came from.

But with 10 overs left in the day, hope had all-but gone. At the end of Batty’s 24th over (56th of the match) he walked duck-footed to mid off, shoulders slunk, cap in hand, dreading what might be. Of all long-form cricket’s gut punches, the handshakes after a drawn fixture take the most out of a skipper who has spent the last few hours on top. And Batty’s side had been ahead for the last three days.

Summoning one last push, Batty returned to take two in his next over. Lewis McManus, having started the day with bat in hand, looked like he would finish it, too. But, after six hours and 21 minutes of crease time across both innings, he was finally dismissed to a fast arm ball. Three balls later, Andrew’s outside edge was found with a perfect off spinner. It was left to Meaker to finish things off. Late movement into the right hander did for Gareth Berg, before Mason Crane was the recipient of a bouncer that would haunt the most weathered opening batsmen, let alone a 19-year-old number 10.

Surrey currently sit outside the relegation zone, 10 points away from Nottinghamshire, who have replaced them in the bottom two. Even if Hampshire were to win their game in hand with full bonus points, they would only go one ahead of Surrey. It bears reiterating: rarely will you see a side work so hard to achieve a four day win of this magnitude.

On the evening of day two, Surrey’s players went to bed preparing themselves for what they knew would be six of the toughest sessions of cricket many of them will have experienced in their lives. So, …

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