Lawrence, Patel, Worrall give Surrey the edge on 15-wicket day

Fifteen wickets fell on the opening day of the vital Rothesay County Championship at the Banks Homes Riverside and title-chasing Surrey will be the happier side after ending an eventful three sessions 29 runs ahead of Durham with five wickets in hand.

But after dismissing the home side for 153, with Dan Worrall taking four for 31 to counter Colin Ackermann's 51, the champions were 27 for three before half-centuries by Ryan Patel and Dan Lawrence earned them their advantage.

Surrey ended the day on 182 for five, with Lawrence unbeaten on 68 and their lead could be crucial on a pitch that appears helpful to most bowlers.

The visitors had made their first breakthrough of the day in the seventh over when Ben McKinney clipped Dan Worrall off his toes to Patel, who had been precisely placed at short midwicket for just such an indiscretion.

McKinney's dismissal for seven was followed 45 minutes later by Emilio Gay's for 14, the former Northamptonshire batsman's forward push to a ball from Sam Curran only succeeding in nicking a catch to Ben Foakes. Both Curran and Foakes had returned to the visitors' side for this match along with Tom Lawes and Cam Steel.

Surrey domination of the game's opening two hours was confirmed in the final two overs of the session, first when Worrall trapped Alex Lees lbw on the back foot for 34 and then when Ollie Robinson was beaten and bowled for two by a ball from Sai Kishore which turned sharply past the edge and into the off stump.

That wicket left Durham parlously placed on 68 for four at lunch but things got much worse for the home side in the half-hour after the resumption as they lost three wickets for 16 runs in five overs. Both Graham Clark and Ben Raine were caught at slip by Rory Burns off Worrall, Clark for four, Raine for a single, and those dismissals sandwiched the departure of Bas de Leede, who was lbw to Kishore for nought when trying to sweep.

That trio of setbacks meant Durham has lost six wickets for 40 runs and left the home side on 93 for seven but some balm was applied to their supporters' wounds by a 53-run stand for the eighth wicket between Ackermann and Matthew Potts, the latter driving and pulling with his usual feisty refusal to be dominated.

Durham's fightback was brief, though. Ackermann reached his fifty off 128 balls but was caught at mid-on by Kishore off Curran when he miscued a pull. In the next over, Codi Yusuf was bowled by Jordan Clark for a single and the innings ended in faintly comical fashion when Potts, having made 32, attempted a scoop off Curran but merely lobbed the ball to Foakes behind the stumps. Curran returned figures of three for 22 while Kishore took two for 26.

Surrey's batsmen did not have their problems to seek in the first hour of their reply. Burns was lbw to Potts for two and Raine was rewarded for his accuracy with the scalps of Dom Sibley, caught behind when driving, for 12 and Curran, whose frenetic ten-ball innings ended when an expansive drive merely nicked a catch to McKinney at first slip and the Surrey all-rounder departed for four.

Those wickets with the new ball reduced Surrey to 27 for three but the next hour or so of the 40-over evening session belonged to Patel and Lawrence, both of whom batted beautifully in the particular styles. Fresh from his season's best 92 at Scarborough last week, Patel reached his fifty with a six off Callum Parkinson to add to his eight fours.

Lawrence, meanwhile, looks as stylish as any batsman in the country at the moment and the pair put on 83 before Patel edged Parkinson to Ackermann at slip and departed for 58. Foakes managed only 11 before losing his off pole to Yusuf but Lawrence reached his fifty off 69 balls four overs before the close and Surrey passed Durham's total a few balls later, an achievement Lawrence celebrated by off-driving Raine for six.