Ramprakash gives Surrey a winning chance

Worcestershire 295 (Moore 76, Tudor 4-61) and 27 for 4 need another 383 runs to beat Surrey 375 and 329 for 5 dec (Ramprakash 100*, Newman 59)
Scorecard

Some time tomorrow Surrey should complete the first of three wins that their coach Steve Rixon said they needed in order to avoid the dreaded drop to Division Two. Surrey lead Worcestershire by 382, and need a further six wickets after the third day at The Oval became one of the few that they will look back on with complete satisfaction at the end of this summer.

Again they have much to be grateful for to Mark Ramprakash, who hit 100 not out - his second century of the match, this one unbeaten - from 120 balls. They declared with 329 for 5, and then ripped through Worcestershire's top order, leaving them gasping for breath at 27 for 4.

Surrey's position could have been even better if Ramprakash and Rikki Clarke, who had been very well set, hadn't been forced off the field by rain for an hour after 50 overs. That hour, and the time lost on Tuesday, may yet prove crucial if tomorrow's weather is as temperamental as it has been in London over the past three days - parts of the capital turned into Venice minus the gondolas on Tuesday.

Surrey wrapped up Worcestershire's two remaining wickets in no time this morning. But their openers Scott Newman and Richard Clinton - who batted superbly in the first innings - were cautious when they should have been hurriedly building on a first-innings lead of 80.

The Surrey bowlers probably won't want to hear this, but the batsmen should have been made aware of it - Surrey have dismissed the opposition in their second innings only once this season, way back at the end of May. Even then Kent, their opponents that day, managed 413. The bowlers should have been given as much time as possible to eat into Worcestershire's stubborn batting line-up, but Newman and Clinton found life difficult against Matthew Mason, Kabir Ali and Andrew Hall. Clinton was trapped leg-before by Gareth Batty just before lunch, and it wasn't until Newman returned with Ramprakash after the break that Surrey began to look as if they really wanted to win this game.

Newman departed trying to up the tempo, edging a mistimed drive off Mason to Steven Rhodes behind the stumps. Enter Clarke, who has felt the pressure more than most this season. Here, however, he sensed that urgency was needed. Both he and Ramprakash, like the rest of the Surrey team, are used to gloom of late, and it must have been this familiarity that caused them to sense the darkening clouds in the distance. Both played as if free to attack for the first time in a while.

Ramprakash, in particular, was sublime. His very good form in Twenty20 cricket seems to have added an extra killer instinct to his game, and he played as if the 52 caps he won for England were criminally short of how many he should have collected if he had treated pressure the same way he treated the Worcestershire attack. He is in sublime form, with four centuries in his last six innings. All sides of the wicket were offered the same punishment by Ramprakash, and he rotated the strike masterfully, picking up ones and twos that would probably have been left well alone as dot-balls in his Test career.

Cricket doesn't get much better than watching Ramprakash without the Woody Allen-esque psychological tics that have plagued his career. He lost Clarke shortly after the rain break for 47, but Ally Brown smashed 25 off 15 balls as Batty and Nadeem Malik kept their fielders busy. Azhar Mahmood then joined in the fun with 22 off 19 balls as Surrey, at long last, accelerated away from Worcestershire. Ramprakash let James Benning take control as he contributed 35 undefeated runs. Surrey declared when Ramprakash pushed Vikram Solanki for a single to bring up his century.

Ormond, who has yet to take more than three wickets in an innings this season, equalled that record with a wicket in each of his opening three overs. First, Stephen Peters lost his stumps, then his fellow opener Stephen Moore managed only to get his leg in the way of a straight one, and finally the nightwatchman Kabir Ali edged to Clinton at slip. Azhar chipped in with the vital wicket of Graeme Hick, beating him for pace. The two bowlers showed the kind of commitment and luck that has been missing from Surrey this season. If they don't go on to complete the victory tomorrow, there will be no way back.