Kyle Jarvis (6-70) claimed his best figures for Lancashire as Surrey were bowled out for 191 on the first day of their Specsavers County Championship match at Emirates Old Trafford.
Rory Burns made a resilient and vital contribution of 92, but the Surrey opener was the only batsman to resist the Jarvis and Lancashire onslaught, before he was the final wicket to fall to Neil Wagner (3-52) in the evening session.
Lancashire, who entered this fixture on the back of a heavy defeat to Derbyshire in their opening NatWest T20 Blast fixture, put their dismay behind them and enjoyed a superb day with the ball, despite a lengthy rain delay, which caused 20 overs to be lost.
Jarvis's opening ten-over spell of 4-32 helped Lancashire to reduce the Division Two champions to 40/5 in the morning session, with Burns sharing essential partnership with the Surrey tail to help his side to recover. In reply, Lancashire reached 16/0 in the 12 overs that remained in the first day, with Tom Smith (7*) replacing Karl Brown at the top of the order, alongside Haseeb Hameed (5*), making his first Championship appearance for Lancashire since the start of the 2014 season.
Having won both of their two games at home this season, losing the toss on both occasions, Lancashire were not too disheartened when Gareth Batty decided to bat first on a sunny morning in Manchester. The hosts made a buoyant start when Tom Bailey encouraged prodigious away swing to force Arun Harinath (5) into an edge behind to Alex Davies at the end of the fifth over, but after that it was Jarvis who dominated proceedings.
His first and perhaps most important breakthrough of the day came when Sri Lankan legend, Kumar Sangakkara - who recorded 12,400 runs in Test match cricket - was trapped plumb lbw after being struck on the back pad by Jarvis with late swing, falling for a four-ball duck at 20/2. Jarvis struck again three balls later when Steve Davies failed to commit to a drive and edged behind to his namesake, as Jarvis recorded a double-wicket maiden in the eighth over.
Jarvis struck again in quick succession to remove England one-day batsman Jason Roy, when his checked drive into the leg-side was horribly mistimed and the ball looped to Luke Procter at mid-on, as he departed for two at 26/4. Having shown early promise, Ben Foakes was the next Surrey batsman to feel the wrath of Jarvis, who had his fourth wicket when he was bowled for 13 by the Zimbabwean paceman, as Surrey slipped to 40/5.
By the time Smith came on for his first bowl in Championship cricket for more than a year, Jarvis had already taken four huge wickets, giving Lancashire another terrific start on home soil after victories against Nottinghamshire and Hampshire. Burns, who had looked on in despair at this top-order collapse, added 36 runs before lunch with James Burke, as he sought to rebuild the innings with his busy and strong leg-side approach.
Respite arrived for Surrey when persistent rain arrived moments before the afternoon session was due to get underway, with this delay causing 20 overs to be surrendered. Play started again at 3.30pm, but Surrey continued to find life difficult against their promotion rivals, as Jarvis returned after the frustrating delay to remove Burke for 31.
Having added 64 runs for the sixth wicket with Burns, the young allrounder edged to Liam Livingstone at first slip, supplying Jarvis with his fifth breakthrough and consequently his first five-wicket haul in Division One of the the County Championship. Not content with his belligerent haul, Jarvis had his sixth victim two overs later when Tom Curran (10) edged behind to Davies at 114/7, as Burns continued to be bereft of long-term support.
Burns progressed to a vital half-century in 123 balls, with Surrey still a long way off recording their first batting point, reaching 126/7 at tea. Leading by example to the rest of his side, captain Batty offered Burns an able batting partner, as they added 68 runs for the eighth wicket to frustrate Lancashire.
The hosts had an opportunity to break their partnership and remove the dangerous Burns when he was on 71, but Alviro Petersen failed to hold on to a sharp chance at leg slip off Wagner. Burns capitalised on his good fortune, hitting Wagner's next two balls to the boundary to record a fifty-partnership with Batty, as he went in search of his ninth first-class century.
Wagner and Lancashire finally forced a breakthrough, removing Batty for 21 when he got a thick edge to Smith at second slip, as Wagner claimed the last three wickets of the innings. Wagner struck two wickets in the space of three balls, removing Mathew Pillans off-stump to send him back to the pavilion for no score.
Surrey were indebted to Burns' lone resistance, but he was the final Surrey wicket to fall when he shuffled across his stumps to Wagner and was judged lbw, falling for a brilliant 92 after batting for over four hours to help his side to reach a respectable total. Lancashire endured a watchful spell of 12 overs at the end of the day, with Smith opening the batting with Hameed in his first Championship appearance for more than 12 months, as the hosts reached stumps on 16/0.
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