Surrey eased their County Championship relegation fears with a nerve-shredding one-wicket win over Yorkshire as last man Dan Worrall whipped away the winning four and Josh Blake battled to 43 not out off 183 deliveries after over four hours at the crease. The London side, who won the Division One title three times in a row between 2022-2024 and finished runners-up to Nottinghamshire last season, began the 11th round of fixtures just outside the bottom two after only one victory to that point. However, Surrey recorded a much-needed triumph in jittery fashion at The Kia Oval on Friday as they successfully chased down a fourth-innings target of 185 having been 115-7, with Worrall clipping Ben Coad (3-72) to the fence on the evening of day three. Rory Burns’ men are 22 points clear of second-bottom Leicestershire, whose game versus title-chasing Notts will go to a fourth day with a draw the likeliest outcome.
Blake and former Yorkshire player Matthew Fisher added 55 for the eighth wicket before the latter edged George Hill (4-52) to third slip and Indian Auqib Nabi (8) then fell to Coad with two runs needed, one ball after slamming a six. Worrall and Blake failed to score from the next 10 balls – including a brilliant maiden from Hill, in which he beat Blake’s outside edge five times – but Worrall had the final say. Surrey, who were razed for just 83 before rolling Yorkshire for 82 on a remarkable 23-wicket day two, resumed on Friday morning on 27-0, needing a further 158 runs. The exit of Dom Sibley (21) triggered an initial collapse of 3-10 – Burns (20) out to Hill (4-52) during that wobble – while when Ollie Pope (12) was lbw to Coad and the same bowler castled Ben Foakes (3) shortly before lunch, Surrey looked toast at 81-5.
The wickets of Adam Thomas (5) and Tom Lawes (17) after the resumption left Surrey reeling further before they dug in for a vital win.
