RESULT
The Oval, June 27 - 29, 2015, LV= County Championship Division Two
(f/o) 113 & 155

Surrey won by an innings and 180 runs

Report

Ansari follows Curran with a glimpse of the future

Zafar Ansari and Tom Curran underlined their potential as two of the best young bowlers in English cricket by completing career-best figures to send Gloucestershire plunging to an innings and 180-run defeat against Surrey at a sun-baked Kia Oval

ECB/PA
29-Jun-2015
Surrey 448 (Foakes 118, Elgar 98, Ansari 64, Batty 50, Norwell 5-112) beat Gloucestershire 113 (Curran 7-20) and 155 (Tavare 58, Ansari 6-30) by an innings and 180 runs
Scorecard
Zafar Ansari and Tom Curran underlined their potential as two of the best young bowlers in English cricket by completing career-best figures to send Gloucestershire plunging to an innings and 180-run defeat against Surrey at a sun-baked Kia Oval.
Ansari, 23, took 6 for 30 from 21.2 second-innings overs with his left-arm spin after 20-year-old seamer Curran had earlier picked up 7 for 20 as Gloucestershire were skittled for 113 and then 155 in the LV= County Championship Division Two game in reply to Surrey's 448.
Only Will Tavare, with 58, resisted for long as Surrey completed a 22-point victory inside three days, their fifth of the season, to strengthen their promotion ambitions and close on Division Two leaders Lancashire. It was, however, Gloucestershire's fifth defeat this summer and they take just a solitary bonus point from a heavy beating.
Gloucestershire were already in trouble on 102 for 7 at the start of day three, and Curran quickly added two more scalps to his five of Sunday's second day to ensure that the follow-on would be applied with the minimum of fuss. Indeed, Gloucestershire's first innings lasted just 10.3 more overs despite Hamish Marshall's defiant 34 not out.
Curran sent back both Craig Miles and Liam Norwell for ducks, caught at the wicket and bowled respectively, before Matt Dunn ended Gloucestershire's first innings by bowling James Fuller for three and striking an early blow when they batted again by having Chris Dent leg-before for 8.
Michael Klinger followed before lunch, caught low at short leg off Ansari for 12, and from 52 for 2 at the interval the Gloucestershire decline continued apace with Marshall this time falling for only 11 when he edged behind off Curran.
It was Curran's eighth wicket of the match, but soon it was Surrey's two spinners, Ansari and Gareth Batty, doing most of the bowling in the warm sunshine. Ansari, in particular, was proving a difficult proposition on a pitch offering some turn, although it was his quicker arm ball that did a lot of the damage.
First he had Ian Cockbain lbw for 17, after a spirited stand of 42 with Tavare, and then he pinned Benny Howell leg-before for 3, with both batsmen paying the penalty for going back to cut and being completely flummoxed by Ansari's change of pace and variation.
In between, Tavare's excellent innings was also ended by Ansari, who turned a more flighted delivery to induce a snick to Jason Roy at slip. Tavare had faced 132 balls, hitting seven fours.
At tea Gloucestershire were on the ropes at 122 for 6 and the final session began with Jack Taylor bounced out for one by James Burke, who saw a fiery short ball fended off into the hands of short leg.
Curran then returned to end Geraint Jones' resistance on 24, with Gloucestershire's captain lobbing up a simple caught-and-bowled chance as he mis-hit an attempted pull.
The end came soon afterwards with Ansari picking up the last two wickets as he had Miles caught for 10 and last man Fuller leg-before for nought aiming a flamboyant sweep.
Curran finished with 2 for 37 in Gloucestershire's second innings, for match figures of 9 for 57, and he now has 43 championship wickets this summer at an average of 25.93.
Ansari's fast-improving left-arm spin has brought him 28 wickets at 33.25 and confirmation that he should now be regarded as a genuine all-rounder at first-class level.

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LV= County Championship Division Two
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