Matthew Nicholson snapped up three top order wickets and Chris Jordan polished off the tail as Surrey finished the day with a 214 run lead over the title leaders Lancashire at the Brit Oval.

Surrey put on 53 in just over an hours play first thing this morning before Mark Butcher called his men in with the score 427 for nine. The significant wicket of the morning was that of Mark Ramprakash, who was caught at long-leg only four short of his double century.

Butcher’s declaration was nasty for Lancashire, as it gave the visitors an awkward period to bat before the lunch interval. Nicholson and Jade Dernbach, with the new ball in hand, set about making life as difficult as possible for the title leaders. This paid off for Surrey as Nicholson bowled in nagging channels to pick up two wickets before the break.

A handy partnership between Paul Horton and Stuart Law gave Lancashire some hope on the other side of lunch but facing such a large first innings deficit meant that runs never seemed to come quickly. Jordan backed up the opening spell of bowling but it was Nicholson, who returned to dismiss the danger man Law. Dernbach then snapped up Horton leaving the Lightening in trouble on 120 for four.

Butcher then introduced the spin of Murtasa Hussain and Ian Salisbury. He had the luxury of being able to set attacking fields for his bowlers and they responded nicely to pick up three wickets between them, with two falling before Tea. Hussain trapped Luke Sutton lbw and Salisbury followed by having Glen Chapple caught at gully.

Lancashire resumed play on 179 for six and their hopes rested squarely on the shoulders of VVS Laxman, who was going well. The Indian batsman went past his half century but when Jordan replaced Salisbury, Surrey got their next breakthrough. The young Surrey quick had Laxman caught at long-leg for 53.

The Lancashire lower order could not cope with the fire power of Jordan and could only put on another 36 runs as they were bowled out for 234.

Surrey elected not to enforce the follow on, leaving Scott Newman and Jonathan Batty to see out the remaining overs of the day. The pair played nicely to take their side up to 21 for no wicket before the umpires took the players off the field for bad lad, bringing play to a premature close.

To see Matthew Nicholson's player profile, click here

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