Ansari 99 leads strong day for Surrey at Old Trafford

Zafar Ansari staked a strong case for selection in England’s squad for the tour of the United Arab Emirates with an assured innings of 99 to give Division Two leaders Surrey a strong opening day against title-contenders Lancashire at Old Trafford.

The visitors reached 262/4 after England’s leading wicket-taker James Anderson played a vital hand in the two key wickets to fall on the first day. The Burnley-born paceman took a stunning one-handed catch to remove Ansari in the evening session after he had removed Kumar Sangakkara cheaply on a day which was largely dominated by Surrey.

It was a difficult decision at the toss; overcast conditions were likely to offer lateral movement for the seam bowlers, but the prospect of batting fourth on a spinning wicket would also have played its part. Surrey’s decision to bat first was vindicated by the close of play scoreboard, but Anderson and the Lancashire seamers were threatening to rip through the Surrey top order in testing conditions.

Anderson (1-53) started the day with a packed slip cordon, but he went without a wicket in the morning session as Ansari and Rory Burns applied themselves well to the situation. The pair established a confident opening partnership for Surrey worth 89 runs and both batsmen went on to make half-centuries to set a strong platform for the innings.

The players left the field for bad light with the score at 59/0 and when the rain accompanied gloomy conditions the umpires called an early lunch. Debutant Phil Mustard was kept busy on the first day of his loan spell in the field, but he was unable to make his mark in between these frustrating delays.

Opportunities were far and few between in the morning session and Lancashire became much more probing after the interval, Bailey in particular was extracting a lot of movement from the red ball. Bailey (1-50) thoroughly deserved to make a breakthrough and when he forced Ansari to edge to Steven Croft at second slip, you would have put good money on the Lancashire captain to hang on to the catch with both hands.

However, his costly drop – when Ansari was only on 33 – meant that Lancashire were still without any success on the first day. Burns led the charge with a 71-ball fifty containing eight boundaries, but the Surrey opener fell without advancing beyond this milestone when he played-on to Tom Bailey three balls after reaching his eighth fifty of the season.

Sangakkara (9) lived a charmed life from the moment he came to the crease, surviving a strong lbw appeal before nearly being run out the very next delivery. A battle between Sri Lanka’s all-time leading run-scorer and Anderson, England’s most successful bowler of all time, made for an interesting contest between bat and ball, but it was Anderson who emerged victorious when Croft made amends for his drop to hang on to a vital catch with the score at 108/2.

Ansari’s innings was refined and responsible, a sure sign that he is aiming to impress the international selectors and his sixth score of fifty or more in this campaign will have done his case no harm whatsoever given his usefulness as a spin bowler.

The Surrey all-rounder reached his fifty in 137 balls, his eighth boundary taking him to this milestone after he had been dropped by Croft. Ben Foakes (45) continued his fine form and applied himself similarly well in testing conditions, as he and Ansari added 50 runs in 102 balls for the third-wicket stand.

Foakes, who averages 57.50 runs per innings this season, played with a degree of flamboyance and confidence, an approach which suited Ansari’s determination not to offer Lancashire any more chances in the field. The former Essex man could have been the third Surrey player to reach fifty, but his edge to Alviro Petersen at first slip off Arron Lilley (1-58) ended his hopes for a fifth fifty of the summer with the score at 175/3.

Steve Davies – another batsman in incredible form this summer – made good company for Ansari, as he took on the agriculture tact shown by Foakes. Ansari also began to open up his shoulders as he approached what would have been his second century of the campaign, lofting Lilley for the only six of the day in the evening session.

Ansari and Davies added another fifty partnership at a decent rate of 103 balls, as Surrey’s first-day dominance began to increase more and more with every ball that was bowled. The introduction of Croft (1-7) into the attack just before the new ball arrived proved to be an important decision for the Red Rose, as he collected the prized wicket of Ansari, although a lot of the credit must go to Anderson for his stunning catch.

The agonising reality of falling for 99 was made all the more frustrating for Ansari by the fact that he failed to dispatch a full-toss delivery from Croft, one which he mistimed to Anderson at short cover for a one-handed catch to his left, a truly incredible catch on a day with little to celebrate for the home side.

Ansari walked back to the pavilion with the scoreboard now reading 244/4, but Surrey were able to survive the handful of deliveries on offer from the new ball before adverse weather signalled an early close of play after 83.2 overs. Davies (32*) and Jason Roy (15*) added an unbeaten stand worth 18 runs, as Surrey reached stumps on 262/4 and very much in control of this important fixture.