A brilliant three-wicket burst by Dan Worrall resurrected Surrey’s victory ambitions after Alex Lees and Ollie Robinson’s 152-run stand had raised Durham hopes of being able to force a draw at the Kia Oval.
Lees scored a superb 125 and Robinson a 105-ball 79 as Durham eventually reached 343-9 by stumps on day three, but earlier both fell to paceman Worrall, as did New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, in a slide from 266-3 to 284-7.
When Matt Fisher removed George Drissell with the last ball before tea, Durham had lost four wickets for 29 runs in 12 overs immediately before the interval.
Afterwards, though, Graham Clark and Matthew Potts added 46 for the eighth wicket in 25 overs to hold up Surrey again as the Kookaburra ball lost its shine and hardness.
Potts resisted 79 balls for his 23, until Dan Lawrence spun an off break to pin him leg-before on the back foot, and then Worrall returned to hit Clark’s middle stump with his fifth ball back to end a defiant 30.
A hobbling Ben Raine, injured when bowling on day one, bravely emerged as last batter to keep Daniel Hogg company until the end of play, with Hogg even taking two fours off Fisher in the closing overs.
Overall, however, bat has overwhelmingly dominated ball on an essentially flat pitch in a County Championship match where the draw still seems the likeliest outcome despite Durham, in reply to Surrey’s mammoth 820-9 declared, still being 477 runs adrift going into the final day.
Opener Lees frustrated Surrey’s attack for almost six hours in all. The Durham captain began day three on 33, with his side 59-1, and forged a fine partnership with Robinson after seeing both Will Rhodes and Colin Ackermann depart before lunch.
Rhodes edged the impressive Fisher to keeper Josh Blake to go for 26 in the morning’s eighth over, and Ackermann’s 24 was ended by an excellent piece of bowling from Sam Curran. Angling one across the right-hander, left-armer Curran saw Will Jacks cling on to a sharp catch at first slip.
Robinson was fortunate to nick Curran between first and second slips for four before he had reached double figures and, after lunch, Curran had an impassioned appeal for lbw against Lees, on 64, turned down – much to the all-rounder’s dismay.
Otherwise, however, the fourth-wicket pair progressed serenely and successive fours off Fisher took Lees to 80 while Robinson went to a 76-ball half-century in style by pulling Jordan Clark powerfully off the front foot for six over mid wicket.
Lees went to his 31st first-class hundred in the 74th over of Durham’s innings and – having been on the field in sweltering 90-degree temperatures for almost eight sessions – he was finally forced to leave it just before tea on day three.
Robinson had just been bowled by a full in-swinger from Worrall (4-49), and the leader of Surrey’s attack made it three strikes overall in his second, third and fourth overs with the second new ball – taken with Durham on 255-3 – when he quickly added the scalps of Lees and Neesham.
Lees, who faced 240 balls and hit 18 fours, nibbled at a fine ball that lifted and left him, and Neesham’s thicker edge to a similar delivery flew to Jacks at first slip.
Clark survived a big lbw appeal from Fisher on four and then a mishit pull at Worrall on five dropped inches short of Curran, diving forward from the squarer of two mid wickets, but Drissell (7) top-edged a pull at Fisher to mid on as Durham’s sudden decline continued apace.
Durham’s innings was steadied, however, by Clark and Potts who made sure of a second batting bonus point while also denying Surrey a third bowling point.
