County Championship: Surrey collapse hands Hampshire initiative at the Oval

Fidel Edwards found pace and swing to dismiss Surrey's top three batsmen

Surrey lost their last six wickets for just 24 runs as Hampshire took the early initiative on day one of their County Championship match at The Oval.

Fidel Edwards (4-38) had Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick lbw before Rory Burns (46) and Dean Elgar (44) rebuilt.

Ben Foakes (46) and Ollie Pope (34) also batted well, but a collapse, begun by Liam Dawson (4-30), saw the hosts slip from 187-4 to 211 all out.

Rikki Clarke (2-14) and Sam Curran made inroads as Hampshire closed on 52-3.

In a frantic 50-minute spell, Surrey's lower order played some poor shots to hasten their decline and begin a succession of evening session wickets.

Pope was pinned lbw with the first ball of the session by Kyle Abbott, Curran hit Dawson to mid-on, Foakes was struck on the front pad and Clarke was caught on the long-on boundary trying to hit the left-arm spinner for six.

Earlier, captain Burns and new signing Elgar had batted determinedly, but along with Foakes, the left-handed duo crucially fell just short of half-centuries.

When Hampshire began their reply, Jimmy Adams (17) and Lewis McManus (22) survived the opening spell from Jade Dernbach and Curran, but Clarke trapped McManus lbw and had Adams caught behind with some extra bounce to bring nightwatchman Chris Wood to the crease.

Curran pinned Wood lbw with the final ball of the day to give Surrey impetus going into day two.

Surrey wicketkeeper Ben Foakes told BBC London:

"When you get 211 you have to take early wickets, so from that point of view it was good and the boys bowled well in patches.

"We're still in the game but tomorrow's crucial to come back and take a couple more early ones.

"You don't know what'll happen in the morning, there'll still be a bit in the wicket so all being well we'll get a couple more."

Hampshire's Liam Dawson:

"We did well to bowl them out for what we did because it is a pretty good pitch. They played a few poor shots against me, and sometimes you need those things to go for you.

"13 wickets in a day is perhaps strange for The Oval, and losing those three wickets at the end puts the game a bit in the balance. Overall, we're in a good position.

"The new ball does a bit but it gets easier to bat on once the shine is gone and there wasn't a lot of turn out there so we just have to bat well. Basically, it's an easy-paced pitch and quite nice to bat on when you get in."