Pears old boy Smith bowls Surrey to three-day win

Nathan Smith took 27 wickets in the Championship for Worcestershire in 2024

Rothesay County Championship Division One, Visit Worcestershire New Road (day three)

Worcestershire 214 & 125: Hose 40; Smith 6-38, Fisher 4-47

Surrey 291 & 53-1: Patel 35*

Surrey (20 pts) beat Worcestershire (3 pts) by nine wickets

Match scorecard

Nathan Smith's exceptional six-wicket haul inspired Surrey to a dominant County Championship win inside three days, as the reigning champions made light work of lowly Worcestershire.

Surrey dismantled their hosts for just 125 in their second innings, taking the final five wickets for just 13 runs, as Matt Fisher (4-47) continued to impress.

Requiring just 49 to win at Visit Worcestershire New Road, Surrey only needed 15 overs to secure an emphatic nine-wicket win.

A third victory of the season keeps them firmly in the hunt for a fourth straight Division One title, as Worcestershire's relegation concerns deepen.

After surviving the late Surrey barrage on Day Two, Worcestershire pair Adam Hose and Ben Allison started the morning in buoyant fashion, adding 66 for the fifth wicket.

But Smith continued his memorable return to the county where he played last year, picking up the wickets of both Allison (27) and Hose (40) in consecutive overs, as Surrey strengthened their grip on the match.

When Matt Fisher feathered the top of Ethan Brookes' off-stump for a duck and trapped Tom Taylor (six) lbw 11 balls later, Worcestershire were floundering at 133-7 with a lead of just 36.

Smith made light work of the final two Worcestershire wickets, as his ruthless performance saw him finish with exceptional figures of 11-2-38-6.

Ably supported by Fisher, who took seven wickets overall in the match, Surrey's seam duo swept aside Worcestershire, who unravelled in spectacular style to be skittled for 125.

Surrey lost Dom Sibley during the chase, but Ryan Patel and Rory Burns led the visitors to a dominant victory, collecting 20 points in the process.

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Surrey captain Rory Burns:

"As a bowling group, they are brilliant. Fish (Matt Fisher) led it in both innings and was pretty relentless in the nature that he went about it.

"And obviously then Nathan today with, with a six-fer while Fish, got the other four, didn't he. It's a pretty impressive bowling display.

"Matt's a great character as a bloke. He really takes that into his cricket. So what you see is what you get and he has slotted in brilliantly."