Tuesday 15 September 2015

Anderson reaches 700 wickets on another good day for Surrey


James Anderson took his first-class tally to 700 wickets on a day which was largely dominated by Surrey, who made a first innings total of 480 before making early inroads with the ball against Lancashire at Old Trafford.

Surrey started the second day on 262/4 after Zafar Ansari - who was later injured on the same day that it was announced he had been selected for England's tour of the United Arab Emirates - had given the visitors a strong start to the match with his innings of 99 on Day One.

Lancashire were reduced to 141/5 by close of play after debutant Phil Mustard (43) and Ashwell Prince (38*) rebuilt the first innings. The Red Rose stumbled to 57/4 after 17-year-old Sam Curran claimed 3-39 in his opening spell for Surrey, as Lancashire were made to work hard on the four-year anniversary of their Division One Championship success at Taunton.

Jason Roy led Surrey's efforts on the Day Two with his eye-catching innings of 66 - his sixth half-century of the campaign - and fifties from Gary Wilson and Gareth Batty rubbed salt into Lancashire's wounds as Surrey piled on the runs to increase their lead at the top of the second division.

Roy and Steve Davies (35) resumed Surrey's first innings with Lancashire in desperate need of early breakthroughs and Anderson was on hand to give the home side the success they desired. Anderson, who started the second day with 698 first-class wickets, forced Davies to edge to Karl Brown at second slip for a superb catch with the score at 268/5.


Wilson looked to play aggressively and get on top of the Lancashire attack, an approach which Roy had favoured for most of his innings, allowing the Surrey duo to add 95 runs inside 18 overs for the sixth wicket. This tact was typified by the no-nonsense attitude Roy took when he was approaching fifty, as the England batsman advanced down the wicket and smashed Kerrigan for six to take him to his half-century in 64 deliveries.

After their early success, Lancashire were becoming frustrated by Surrey's fast accumulation of runs and so they were very relieved when Roy failed to connect to a sweep shot and had his stumps rearranged by Kerrigan at 363/6. Wilson took charge of the innings and progressed to an assured fifty in 53 balls, his seventh four taking him to this milestone, but he was then removed five balls later by a rampant Kerrigan.

Wilson's attempted sweep fell straight into the hands of Brown at short fine leg, Kerrigan's third wicket of the innings, as Surrey progressed to 384/7. Lancashire were in pursuit of a third bowling point, with the Curran brothers - Sam and Tom - now occupying the crease, but their resistance denied the Red Rose any further success before the 110-over mark.

The duo did however fail to carry the momentum shown by Roy and Wilson before them, meaning that Surrey failed to seize maximum batting bonus points before lunch arrived. The afternoon session brought yet more hard work for Lancashire, but also a memorable moment for Anderson, who took his third wicket of the innings and the 700th scalp of his first-class career when he removed Tom Curran for 23.

His brother Sam soon followed when he was caught by Prince off the bowling Kerrigan (4-128) at 423/9, but Lancashire's extensive amount of time in the field was prolonged by a determined last-wicket partnership between captain Batty and Matt Dunn. Their stand worth 57 runs took Surrey to a daunting total of 480, with Batty's unbeaten contribution of 50 in 61 deliveries the primary reason for his side's lower-order success. 


The Surrey skipper hit three fours and as many sixes on his way to a useful half-century, before Dunn - who added three runs in the 50 minutes he was at the crease - chipped a delivery from Kerrigan to Prince at deep mid-on, bringing Surrey's first innings to a close.

Lancashire would have been satisfied with Surrey's efforts with the bat had runs come as easily for them when their turn at the crease came, but unfortunately for the Red Rose county they found life much harder than their opponents. 

Haseeb Hameed (17) was the first of Lancashire's casualties to the dangerous Sam Curran (3-40) when he was trapped lbw at 28/1 and the 17-year-old seamer had Karl Brown back in the pavilion for 27 in identical fashion either side of Alviro Petersen's dismissal to Tom Curran (1-40). The Curran brothers ripped through Lancashire's top order and the wicket of Petersen (1) came as a significant dent to the home side at such an early stage in their innings.

Steven Croft's form at Canterbury was a vital component in Lancashire's ability to salvage a draw and secure promotion against Kent in their last four-day outing, but the Red Rose captain could only manage five runs, as he became Sam Curran's third victim with a thick outside edge through to Ben Foakes behind the stumps.

Lancashire had slumped to 57/4 when Mustard came to the crease, but the Durham wicketkeeper did not let the pressure of the situation impact on his first innings for his temporary county. Mustard's positive temperament allowed Lancashire to steady the innings and also accumulate runs at a decent pace, as he and Prince added 63 runs for the fifth-wicket stand.

Mustard hit seven boundaries in his eye-catching and important innings, although his form before this game for Durham in four-day cricket had left much to be desired. He was threatening to surpass the 51 runs he has accumulated in seven Championship innings all season for Durham, but his enthusiasm was halted when he was stumped by Foakes off Batty (1-24) for 43.

Prince and Jordan Clark (9*) were able to see Lancashire to close of play without suffering any further setbacks, but the home side will have plenty of work to do after another strong day for Surrey.

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