Rain holds up Surrey victory push against Lancs

Play did not begin at The Kia Oval until 17:10 BST

Vitality County Championship, Division One, Kia Oval (day three)

Lancashire 204: Hurst 46; Clark 4-57 & 26-1

Surrey 444-9 dec: Burns 227, Foakes 82; Balderson 3-105

Lancashire (2pts) trail Surrey (7 pts) by 214 runs with nine second innings wickets remaining

Match scorecard

Surrey managed just the wicket of Lancashire opener Luke Wells on a day of frustration at The Kia Oval in which only 10.2 overs were possible due to bad weather.

Wells was bowled by Jordan Clark for four, the ball keeping low to remove the left-hander's off stump, as the visitors moved from an overnight 4-0 in their second innings to 26-1.

That left them still 214 runs behind Surrey and needing to bat out the final day to escape with a draw.

But at least the truncated third day has given Lancashire a chance of denying the Division One leaders a seventh County Championship victory of the season as they chase a third successive title.

No play was possible until 17:10 BST because of heavy morning rain and then persistent afternoon drizzle which snuffed out two earlier attempts to resume the game.

Clark, coming around the wicket, dismissed Wells in the third full over but Surrey's hopes of bowling the 22.1 scheduled overs were crushed when heavy rain clouds again appeared over central London, accompanied by flashes of lightning.

Umpires David Millns and Rob White also took a light meter reading before taking the players off with 11.5 overs still remaining, and soon the Oval groundstaff were bringing on the covers again to protect the pitch from more rain.

Keaton Jennings, the Lancashire captain, and Josh Bohannon will both start the final day on nine not out.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters Network