Daniel Worrall lashed a boundary over point to seal an incredible victory for Surrey, who chased down 185 with just one wicket remaining against an exceptional Yorkshire.
It was a proper football-style relegation six-pointer, as 8th-placed Surrey defeated a visiting 7th-placed Yorkshire, with an unbeaten 43 from 183 balls from Josh Blake anchoring a very tense run chase that saw momentum see-saw throughout its entirety.
The win is even more crucial for Surrey as Leicestershire, who are below them in 9th place, look set to draw against reigning champions Nottinghamshire, which would have put Surrey firmly in the drop zone, had it not been for today’s remarkable victory.
An Impossible Chase
185 to win on a pitch that had seen 23 wickets fall the previous day looked very tricky and was soon practically impossible, when the dismissal of Ben Foakes just before the Lunch break meant the hosts were 81 for 5, still needing another 104 runs for victory.
Then a 55-run eighth wicket partnership between Blake and Matthew Fisher dragged Surrey back into the contest, until some late drama meant the hosts needed 2 runs to win with just a single wicket remaining, allowing Worrall to hit the winning runs.
The floodlights were on for almost every over of play, as dark and gloomy skies in South London saw Surrey survive dozens of LBW shouts, as well as play and miss after play and miss, with Yorkshire beating the outside edge an almost infinite amount of times.
Yorkshire’s three-pronged seam attack of Ben Coad, Jack White and George Hill were at their best throughout the match, yet still ended up on the losing side, as luck fell the way of the home team, who completed a narrow victory on Day Three at the Kia Oval.
It’s been a decade since Surrey were last in Division 2, with today’s win being their second home victory in the County Championship since earlier in the season against Sussex.
Yorkshire’s seamers were exceptional but just didn’t have enough luck to beat Surrey. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)Morning Session
Early morning showers meant a delayed start to the day as Surrey’s openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley began play on 27 for 0, still 158 runs away from the target.
The enthralling contest that had been on display throughout the first two days continued into the morning of the third, as Yorkshire’s seamers regularly beat the bat, whilst every single, double and rare boundary was loudly cheered by the Kia Oval crowd.
Yorkshire eventually had their first wicket of the morning when White pinned Sibley LBW for 21, a well-earnt breakthrough for the visitors, who had consistently rapped the former England opener on the pads throughout the first half-hour of play.
The score soon became 42 for 2 when Surrey made the bizarre move to promote Rahul Chahar to bat at three, only for the Indian to register a five-ball duck as his middle stump went cartwheeling, with White sealing a double-wicket maiden for Yorkshire.
Following several overs of tight bowling, Surrey captain Burns was next to fall when he edged off to Dom Bess at first slip from the bowling of Hill, before new batter Ollie Pope decided to counter-attack by flicking his second ball over square leg for six.
Having batted out of his crease, Pope forced keeper Jonny Bairstow to stand up to the stumps, before pulling a Coad short delivery over square leg for another six, as a pair of boundaries from Blake meant Surrey had scored 14 runs in the space of three balls.
Surrey’s counter attack ended when Coad pinned Pope LBW with a nip-backer, before the Yorkshire seamer jagged the ball in the opposite direction to flatten the off stump of new batter Foakes, as Surrey went into the Lunch break at 81 for 5, still 104 runs adrift.
The Dismissal of Foakes put Surrey in some real trouble (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)Afternoon Session
Adam Thomas and Blake started the afternoon with a boundary each as Surrey brought the target to under a 100, until the former was removed by an exceptional caught and bowled from Hill, who stuck out his left hand whilst falling away in his follow-through.
New batter Tom Lawes came in and chose to go on the attack by flashing one over the slip cordon and then drilling another past the bowler for consecutive boundaries, before eventually edging a loose drive to Will Luxton at third slip from the bowling of Hill.
Incoming batter Fisher was emphatically thumped in the side of the head from a Hill bouncer, as the loud CRACK from his helmet echoed around the Oval, whilst Blake continued his slow going at the other end and narrowly avoided being run out after taking a very quick single to Kuldeep Yadav at mid-off.
Despite being rattled early on, Fisher managed to find the fence thrice for Surrey with a lash through backward point, a flick over mid-wicket and then a leg-bye that smacked his thigh pad and looped over the slips, as the hosts moved to within 50 runs of the target.
Blake pulled one through square and crunched another through the covers for back-to-back boundaries, just after Yorkshire had three close LBW shouts denied. Surrey now had hope as the home side needed just 33 to win at the tea break with three wickets in hand.
Fisher batted well to put up a 50 run partnership alongside Blake. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images for Surrey CCC)Evening Session
Now with the ball softer and older, Blake and Fisher chipped away at the required total whilst Yorkshire’s White, Hill and Coad kept beating the bat without finding the edge. The tension was so high that the visiting team’s physio was doing laps of the ground to feed, massage and refuel the fast bowlers on the boundary edge.
Frustration was beginning to show on the faces of the Yorkshire players as countless plays and misses saw heads in hands and knees to the ground, before an exquisite cover drive from Fisher brought up the fifty partnership and the target down to under 20.
With 17 runs to win, Hill finally found the edge of Fisher’s bat only for it to drop just short of Luxton at third slip. The very next ball saw another narrow escape for Surrey as a punch to mid-off was brilliantly fielded by Yadav, who threw towards the striker’s end where Bairstow fumbled the ball, allowing a diving Fisher to leap back into his crease.
After all the plays and misses, Yorkshire finally got the breakthrough as Fisher went for an uppish drive and managed a thick edge from the bowling of Hill straight to Luxton at third slip, as Surrey now needed 15 to win with just two wickets remaining.
Indian seamer Auqib Nabi whacked his second ball over mid-on for two, whilst Blake guided one past point for a boundary to reach 43 from 177 balls, as the lights at the Oval got brighter, the skies darker and the tension higher, with only 8 runs left to win.
Nabi then lined up a length ball from Coad and whacked it over mid-wicket for a massive six to put Surrey just two away from victory, only to then hit the next ball straight in the air and give a simple, but highly pressured, catch to James Wharton at mid-on.
Final man Worrall successfully survived the rest of the over, before the following six balls saw Blake play and miss the entire over to put the pressure firmly back on his number 11.
Worrall stood firm to lash a boundary over point and seal a thrilling last wicket victory for Surrey, with Blake ending unbeaten on 43 from 183 balls.
Worrall hit the winning runs for Surrey in a breath-taking game of cricket. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images for Surrey CCC)