Curran's all-round quality gives Surrey a lift

After the euphoria of ending their long run of 37 championship matches without a win at Essex the previous week, Leicestershire's heavy defeat against Surrey served as a reminder that they still have plenty of work to do. Surrey, meanwhile, keep up the pressure on Lancashire at the top of the Division Two table.

Tom Curran, with a fine all-round display, added energy to Surrey's display, giving them the verve they will need to remain in contention at the top of the table.

A burst of three wickets in the first two overs after lunch put Surrey on their way to a conclusive three-day victory at Grace Road. The second ball after the break saw Chris Tremlett produce a superb delivery that straightened and bowled Foxes opener Angus Robson.

In the following over Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove got a brute of a ball from Curran that reared off a length to take the shoulder of the bat and loop gently to gully, and two balls later, Andrea Agathangelou was leg before to a delivery that seamed back in and kept a little low.

Had Niall O'Brien not been dropped by Gary Wilson off Curran before scoring, the Surrey wicketkeeper getting his hand to a low chance diving to his left but failing to hang on, Leicestershire might have subsided in short order, but O'Brien went on to score a run a ball 50 before edging left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari to Wilson.

Ned Eckersley and Ben Raine also fought hard, but on a wicket with increasingly variable bounce, the prospect of the home team chasing down the 356 they need to win the game was always going to be slim, and the end came shortly after tea, when James Burke picked up two wickets in two balls, both lbw, to end the game.

Earlier, Leicestershire made the worst possible start after Surrey added 67 to their overnight score of 217-6, with Steve Davies, batting with a badly bruised hand, finishing with an unbeaten 47.

Foxes' opener Matt Boyce was leg before wicket to Matt Dunn's first delivery, and it could have been even worse if Rory Burns had been able to cling on to a difficult chance at second slip after Robson edged a drive at Chris Tremlett in the following over, also before Leicestershire had scored a run.