Patel leaves Surrey searching for first win

Nottinghamshire 218 & 372 for 6 (Patel 134*, Swann 68*, Adams 58) drew with Surrey 403
Scorecard

	Samit Patel pulls through midwicket on his way to a match-saving 134* © Getty Images

In the end, Surrey were not quite up to it. The match was in a sense a microcosm of the current Test at Lord's, and at the same time as South Africa were playing out time to the south, Nottinghamshire were holding off Surrey and frustrating their attempts to record their first Championship victory of the season.

Nottinghamshire's main hero was the century-maker Samit Patel, but he had a useful supporting cast as the Surrey bowlers toiled all day. Perspiration was clearly in evidence, but there was not quite the inspiration needed against determined batsmen on a good pitch.

The play was competitive throughout, although without quite the intensity there had been the previous evening at the start of the Nottinghamshire follow-on. Andre Adams had been an unlikely nightwatchman, though he had survived his three balls overnight, and he was soon going for his strokes in the morning. Not all were well controlled, but for the present the sun shone for him. The Surrey bowling was good, but not inspired, with Chris Jordan the most dangerous. Adams lofted Saqlain Mushtaq for two successive sixes to reach his 50, off 47 balls. Saqlain, who appeared to be suffering from a recurrence of knee trouble, did not bowl as much as may have been expected.

Then the balance swung again. Matt Wood, who had been solid and reliable at the other end, found one from Jordan too good for him and edged it to the keeper, having made 26 off 95 balls. Adams became strangely bogged down after reaching his fifty, taking 30 further deliveries to add 8 runs, and was then yorked by Matt Nicholson. Adam Voges and Patel had to steady the ship again before lunch.

Like so many of Nottinghamshire's batting partnerships this season, it proved to be useful, but was broken before it became dangerous. Voges glanced Jordan to the boundary to avert the innings defeat, but shortly afterwards he drove loosely at Jade Dernbach outside his off stump and the wicketkeeper, Jonathan Batty, completed the 500th dismissal of his career. Chris Read (5) soon followed, yorked by Pedro Collins; his batting form recently must be a serious disappointment to him just at the time when some good runs could have regained him his Test place.

The match was again in the balance at 207 for 6, Nottinghamshire 22 runs ahead with just four wickets left and the best part of two sessions remaining. But Patel curbed his mercurial instincts to play with admirable responsibility, as did his new partner Graeme Swann, and the pair handled all that Surrey could fire at them during the afternoon. By tea Surrey knew they were in danger of missing out, with Nottinghamshire 99 runs ahead and still those four wickets intact.

Surrey's self-belief started ebbing away after tea, as they were unable to part the intransigent pair. Patel became the first top-order Notts batsman to reach a century this season as he slashed Dernbach backward of point for four, having taken 130 balls to get there. Minutes later Swann reached 50 (76 balls) with a handsome boundary through the covers off Jordan. This was the partnership that really saw the job through, and it could not have come at a better time.

When the teams left the field, Nottinghamshire were 187 runs ahead, and the unbeaten pair (Patel 134, Swann 68) had added 165 for the seventh wicket. Collins and Dernbach took two wickets each; Jordan's one expensive wicket did him no justice at all.

Surrey will rue their failure to complete their victory, but at least they did well enough to enforce the follow-on. Nottinghamshire can take pride in their fightback, but may well reflect on the fact that they should not have placed themselves in such a disadvantageous position in the first place. This match showed yet again in the case of both teams how important the state of mind is in the game of cricket.