Hill's maiden ton countered by Dunn

Surrey 105 for 2 trail Leicestershire 292 (Hill 126, Raine 57, Dunn 4-72) by 187 runs
Scorecard

Lewis Hill struck a maiden first-class hundred in just his second appearance as Leicestershire made 292 after choosing to bat first against Surrey on the opening day at the Kia Oval.

Ominously for Leicestershire, however, Surrey closed on 105 for 2 in reply with both Kumar Sangakkara and Kevin Pietersen still at the crease on 35 not out. Earlier, Matt Dunn had spearheaded the Surrey bowling effort with 4 for 72.

A purposeful 91-run stand between Hill and Ned Eckersley had initially put the visitors' noses in front, but Surrey then pegged Leicestershire back by snapping up Eckersley for 48 and Mark Cosgrove without scoring.

The afternoon session was dominated by a sixth wicket stand of 120 in 23 overs between Hill and Ben Raine until a clatter of wickets handed the initiative back to Surrey once more.

Angus Robson departed for 6, having been beaten for pace by Dunn, but Eckersley dispatched Tom Curran for three fours in an over and moved to 48 by lofting Zafar Ansari back over his head twice for four.

It was suddenly 104 for 3, though, when Eckersley was caught at third slip off Curran and Cosgrove, driving loosely at Dunn, was claimed behind off an inside edge.

But Hill, only opening because of the absence of Matthew Boyce, who picked up a knock during practice on Saturday, reached his fifty in the last over before lunch, off 72 balls.

Curran struck twice when Neil Pinner and Niall O'Brien were both caught at first slip, for 17 and 16 respectively, only for Hill, cutting and pulling ever more fiercely, to find a useful ally in Raine.

Hill moved into the nineties with the second of two flat-batted sixes over midwicket off Ansari before bringing up his maiden first-class hundred, which came off 125 balls and included 14 fours and two maximums, with a quick single off Gareth Batty.

Leicestershire, however, then collapsed from 275 for 5 to 292 all out. Dunn eventually ripped out Hill's off stump with a delivery not dissimilar to the one that accounted for Robson, though not before Raine had moved to a 72-ball half-century.

Clint McKay was lbw for 4, playing back to Batty, and Rob Taylor went caught behind for 3. Raine undid much of his earlier good work by edging a back foot drive through to the wicketkeeper for 57 and Chris Tremlett struck again when Jigar Naik was caught low down at second slip.

Ansari and Rory Burns both made 15 before falling to Raine - Ansari, pushing forward, going caught behind and Burns chopping on.

Pietersen announced himself with a glorious cover drive for four and signed off for the day with a straight six off Naik, while Sangakkara went down on one knee to punch Charlie Shreck through extra cover twice in as many overs.

Leicestershire's batting hero Hill said: "My heart rate was going quite fast in the nineties, but Ben Raine did a great job calming me down. The idea was to be positive and pounce on anything loose. I was disappointed to get out when I did. I probably lost my concentration a little bit.'"

Surrey fast bowler Matt Dunn heaped praise on Hill but was not disappointed with how his side did either: "As a bowling unit we applied pressure throughout. They had a really good partnership in the middle, which set us back a bit. Lewis Hill played really well, but I think we kept them to what we think is a below par score."