Shakib Al Hasan’s six-wicket haul powered Worcestershire to their fifth win in the County Championship Division Two competition as they recorded a massive 238-run win over Surrey at the County Ground in New Road yesterday.
Requiring 369 runs in the second innings to win the match, Surrey were already in trouble coming into the fourth and final day, reeling on 66 for four with Shakib having picked up three quick wickets, those of Tom Lancefield, Stuart Meaker and the prized scalp of Mark Ramprakash for a first-ball duck — a rare sight in county cricket.
With just four-and-a-half overs left of the day, Lancefield skipped down the pitch and drove obligingly – and quite unnecessarily – to mid-on. Stuart Meaker, the nightwatchman, was punished for thrusting his pad into his forward defensive stroke, before Mark Ramprkash was bowled, second delivery, by a lovely arm ball. It left the Bangladesh all-rounder with three wickets in eight deliveries without conceding a run.
The left-arm spinner followed up his good work on the third day by taking three more — captain Rory Hamilton-Brown, Steve Davies and the last wicket of Chris Tremlett — to finish with figures of six for 42 from 11.4 overs as Surrey were bowled out for 130 runs in 33.4 overs on the fourth day. Shakib, the lone Bangladeshi playing county cricket, also picked up two wickets in the first innings.
Surrey actually started the final day rather well. Davies and Hamilton-Brown thrashed 46 in the first five overs of the morning. But it was short-lived. Davies, charging down the pitch and trying to hit Shakib over the top, succeeded only in lofting a catch to mid-off. Two balls later, Hamilton-Brown deposited the ball straight to the man on the long-off fence.
Shakib maintained a calm head despite the early assault, luring the batsmen into rash strokes by varying his pace and flight. It was his second five-wicket haul in three games and the 11th of his career.
Shakib now has 24 wickets from five outings, in addition to his 273 runs.
Matt Mason took three wickets while Gareth Andrew picked up the other Surrey wicket to fall.
The match was almost even for the first three days of the match with Worcestershire taking a 49-run first innings lead, but Dutchman Alexei Kervezee made all the difference with a second innings century for the hosts. The 20-year-old right-hander smashed 19 boundaries and two sixes in his 152-ball 144 as Worcestershire were 319 all out in the second innings, setting Surrey 369 to win.
The result was overshadowed, however, by an incident between Worcestershire supporters and Gareth Batty. Batty, who left Worcestershire at the end of last season, had been heckled throughout the match and, after his dismissal in Surrey’s second innings, stopped several times on his way off the pitch to exchange words with spectators.
Following a brief visit to the dressing room to remove his pads, he reemerged, walked into seating area and sat down next to one of the more vocal critics. After several minutes of heated conversation, Ian Salisbury, who is on the Surrey coaching staff, led Batty away. Batty was later spotted in tears being consoled by his teammates. Worcestershire’s chairman, Percy Price subsequently apologised to Batty on behalf of the club.
The win took Worcestershire to fourth place in the points table behind Glamorgan, Sussex and Gloucestershire but brightened their chances of promotion.
