Title-chasing Surrey held to draw by lowly Notts

Farhan Ahmed displaced the great WG Grace as the youngest to take 10 or more wickets in a first-class match in this country

Vitality County Championship Division One, Trent Bridge (day four)

Surrey 525: Burns 161, Sudharsan 105; Ahmed 7-140 & 177-9 dec: Burns 71; Patterson-White 5-96, Ahmed 3-77

Nottinghamshire 405: McCann 154, Hameed 68, Haynes 68, Verreynne 50*; Jacks 7-129 & 121-0: Hameed 61*, Slater 56*

Nottinghamshire (12 pts) drew with Surrey (13 pts)

Match scorecard

Surrey's perceived romp towards a third consecutive Division One title lost a little momentum as they were forced to settle for a draw against relegation-threatened Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

But, on a day when 16-year-old off-spinner Farhan Ahmed’s 10-wicket match haul claimed a 159-year-old record from cricketing great WG Grace, it was a good day for Notts.

Their 12 points from a third draw of the season - a noteworthy effort after trailing by 120 on first innings - has lifted them 10 points clear of ninth-placed Lancashire, who now look the likeliest candidates to accompany Kent back to Division Two.

Kent, 45 points behind with three games left, could easily be relegated next week if they do not beat Hampshire at home.

Notts then play Kent in the second of two successive away games before finishing at home to Warwickshire, who are now 26 points clear of trouble and two points behind fifth-placed Worcestershire, who also won memorably against Essex.

Already in the record books on his Championship debut as the youngest player to bag five wickets or more in a first-class match in Britain, Ahmed, the younger brother of England leg spinner Rehan Ahmed, achieved another even more prestigious landmark when he claimed Jordan Clark as his 10th wicket of the match.

This enabled him to replace cricketing great Grace as the youngest to take 10 or more wickets in a first-class match in this country.

Surrey declared at 177-9 in their second innings, setting Notts a target of 298 to win from a minimum 48 overs.

But Notts openers Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater remained unseparated, both making half-centuries as they reached 121-0 before the two sides shook hands on a draw at 17:00 BST.

Having won seven of their previous eight games, and the last three on the trot, division leaders Surrey’s lead of 35 points at the start of this round of matches has been cut to 24 thanks to Somerset’s victory over Durham at Taunton.

And Surrey and Somerset now meet at Taunton on 9 September - a game which has turned into a bit of a title decider if Surrey win, but one which could throw it wide open again if they lost.

Nottinghamshire spinner Liam Patterson-White told BBC Radio Nottingham:

“It was a pleasing performance across the whole game. We knew what we were up against - champions two years in a row, top of the league again and a very strong side again - so to go toe-to-toe with them over the four days bodes well.

“After the defeat by Durham, there have been a lot of chats either with the coaching staff or among the players. Really honest and harsh chats at times but very open and I feel that has reaped its rewards this week.

“To draw was so important considering the situation in the table. We wanted to put ourselves in a position where we were able to not lose - and we did that.

“From my own point of view, I was pleased with my own performance. It is nice to get back in the team and perform. There is a lot of competition for places and I feel like I’ve worked hard for the opportunity, so I wanted to grab it with both hands.”

Surrey head coach Gareth Batty told BBC Radio London:

“There were moments that could have made a difference to the outcome. This morning, if we had been able to put together a longer, deeper partnership we might have been able to force the pace a bit earlier.

“From a bowling point of view, we possibly were a bit impatient. But we were happy with declaring when we did. We felt that if we were going to bowl them out it would have been within around 50 overs but we had to bowl well.

“The surface and the Kookaburra ball dictated the pace of the game and unfortunately that pace meant it petered out as a draw. It was a good pitch, a bit on the slow side, and the spinners came into the game, but the speed of the Kookaburra ball reacting made it hard to force dismissals but also to force runs.

“I have no problem with what the use of the Kookaburra is trying to achieve but I just don’t like the integrity of the league over 14 games with different balls. It is very strange, like playing a round of Premier League games with no offside rule.”