County Championship: Surrey make good start against Somerset

Scott Borthwick scored his last Championship century against Lancashire in April 2017

Scott Borthwick made his highest score of the season as Surrey had the better of day one against leaders Somerset.

Second-placed Surrey reached 351-5 at the close at Guildford, in which all-rounder Borthwick made 83.

The left-hander hit a six and 13 fours before being bowled through the gate by seamer Tim Groenewald.

Surrey skipper Rory Burns earlier made 66 and Ollie Pope matched him by passing 500 Championship runs for the season to close the day on 73 not out.

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Only one point separated the two sides at the start of play, with Somerset on top of the table by virtue of their win over previous leaders Nottinghamshire.

Burns and Arun Harinath (43) gave Surrey a solid start with an opening partnership of 98 and their good work was continued by Borthwick and Ryan Patel, who put on 88.

Borthwick reached his half-century off only 50 balls, as 141 runs were added during the afternoon, but was dismissed at the start of the final session.

Debutant Theunis de Bruyn was caught at cover for a third-ball duck and Patel (48) edged Tom Abell (2-80) to the keeper, but Pope's first six scoring strokes were boundaries and he and Will Jacks saw it through to stumps with an unbroken stand of 52.

Somerset captain Tom Abell:

"I still think it was the right decision to bowl first and I can't fault the efforts of our bowlers all day.

"At times, we didn't get the rewards we deserved but we kept going.

"We beat the bat consistently, a few edges didn't go to ground but they are allowed to play well too and they batted well.

Surrey batsman Scott Borthwick:

"It's been a good day for us. We played pretty well and finished strongly with Ollie Pope at the end there.

"If you bowl in good areas, especially with the new ball, you will get rewards. There is some tennis-ball bounce and a few have swung so there is something in the wicket.

"It was a decent ball to get me out, but I am happy with how I'm playing. It's my fourth Championship 50 of the season but it would have been nice to get to three figures."