Worrall burst lifts Surrey after Durahm battle on Lees hundred
Draw still the favourite as visitors limp to close nine down in face of mammoth 820-9 dec
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
01-Jul-2025 • 4 hrs ago
Alex Lees scored a century but Durham were still in the mire • Getty Images
Durham 343 for 9 (Lees 125, Robinson 79, Worrall 4-49) trail Surrey 820 for 9 dec by 477 runs
A brilliant three-wicket burst with the second new ball by Dan Worrall resurrected Surrey's victory ambitions just when it looked as if Alex Lees and Ollie Robinson's 152-run stand had raised Durham hopes of being able to force a draw at the Kia Oval.
Lees scored a superb 125 and Robinson a 105-ball 79 as Durham eventually reached 343 for 9 by stumps on day three, but earlier both fell to paceman Worrall, as did New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham, in a slide from 266 for 3 to 284 for 7.
When Matt Fisher removed George Drissell with the last ball before tea, Durham had lost four wickets for 29 runs in 12 overs immediately before the interval. Afterwards, though, Graham Clark and Matthew Potts added 46 for the eighth wicket in 25 overs to hold up Surrey again as the Kookaburra ball lost its shine and hardness.
Potts resisted 79 balls for his 23, until Dan Lawrence spun an offbreak to pin him leg-before on the back foot, and then Worrall returned to hit Clark's middle stump with his fifth ball back to end a defiant 30.
A hobbling Ben Raine, injured when bowling on day one, bravely emerged at No. 11 to keep Daniel Hogg company until the end of play, with Hogg even taking two fours off Fisher in the closing overs.
Overall, however, bat has overwhelmingly dominated ball on an essentially flat pitch in a Rothesay County Championship match on which the draw still seems the likeliest outcome despite Durham, in reply to Surrey's mammoth 820 for 9 declared, still being 477 runs adrift going into the final day.
Opener Lees showed immense stamina, as well as notable skill and determination, to frustrate Surrey's attack for almost six hours in all. The Durham captain began day three on 33, with his side 59 for 1, and forged a fine partnership with Robinson after seeing both Will Rhodes and Colin Ackermann depart before lunch.
Rhodes edged the impressive Fisher to keeper Josh Blake to go for 26 in the morning's eighth over, and Ackermann's 24 was ended by an excellent piece of bowling from Sam Curran. Angling one across the right-hander, left-armer Curran saw Will Jacks cling on to a sharp catch at first slip.
Robinson was fortunate to nick Curran between first and second slips for four, a technical but low chance, before he had reached double-figures and, after lunch, Curran had an impassioned appeal for lbw against Lees, on 64, turned down - much to the allrounder's dismay.
Otherwise, however, the fourth-wicket pair progressed serenely and successive fours off Fisher took Lees to 80 while Robinson went to a 76-ball half-century in style by pulling Jordan Clark powerfully off the front foot for six over midwicket.
The 32-year-old Lees, capped 10 times in Tests by England, went to his 31st first-class hundred in the 74th over of Durham's innings and - having been on the field in sweltering 90-degree temperatures for almost eight sessions - he was finally forced to leave it at 3.41pm on day three.
Robinson had just been bowled by a full inswinger from Worrall, and the leader of Surrey's attack made it three strikes overall in his second, third and fourth overs with the second new ball - taken with Durham on 255 for 3 - when he quickly added the scalps of Lees and Neesham.
Lees, who faced 240 balls and hit 18 fours, nibbled fatally at a fine ball that lifted and left him and Neesham's thicker edge to a similar delivery flew to Jacks at first slip.
Clark survived a big lbw appeal from Fisher on 4 and then a mishit pull at Worrall on 5 dropped inches short of Curran, diving forward from the squarer of two midwickets, but Drissell top-edged a pull at Fisher to mid-on as Durham's sudden decline continued apace.
Durham's innings was steadied, however, by Clark and Potts who made sure of a second batting bonus point while also denying Surrey a third bowling point. As batting conditions eased at the end of another long, hot day, it was noticeable that Worrall and Fisher were given only another five overs between them just before the close.
Worrall has figures of 4 for 49 from 23 overs and, if anyone is searching for even one positive from the widely-condemned decision to deploy the lower-seamed Kookaburra (widely-used in Tests overseas) in four prime mid-summer Championship fixtures, it is that the newly England-qualified Australian displayed once again the skill and know-how with it that makes him an intriguing possible selection for this winter's Ashes series Down Under.