Derbs hold on after Ponting's 192

Surrey had to settle for a draw from their Championship Division One clash with Derbyshire despite the best efforts of Chris Tremlett and Ricky Ponting, who fell eight runs short of a double-century on the final day.

Ponting was run out for 192 from 271 balls, the highest score by a Surrey player on first-class debut, before the visitors declared 101 runs ahead on 553 for eight. Tremlett then set the alarm bells ringing in the home camp when he reduced them to 105 for 3.

When Tremlett took his third wicket by bowling Chesney Hughes for 68, Surrey sensed there was an outside chance of victory but Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Wes Durston stood firm, adding an unbroken 59 before the teams shook hands just after 5pm.

It might have been different if Surrey had taken early wickets to put the division's bottom side under pressure but Hughes and Billy Godleman shared Derbyshire's highest opening stand of the season, 76 in 19 overs, before Tremlett broke through.

Surrey had started the day 90 runs behind but Ponting and Steven Davies scored freely on another sunny morning to open up the possibility of pulling off an unlikely victory. Ponting reached his 150 when he cover drove Mark Turner for his 18th four and Davies also kept the scoreboard ticking at five an over by completing his half-century off only 46 balls.

The fifth-wicket stand was worth 105 in 20 overs when Davies was well caught at deep midwicket by Godleman off David Wainwright for 59, but Gary Wilson helped Ponting maintain the scoring rate before the 38-year-old former Australia captain's superb innings ended in the last over of the morning.

Ponting set off for a sharp single but was well beaten by a direct hit at the bowler's end from wicketkeeper Richard Johnson. Despite that, it had still been a good session for Surrey with 155 runs coming in 29 overs.

Gary Wilson then made 45 from 48 balls before Gareth Batty declared but Hughes and Godleman took Derbyshire some way down the road to safety before Tremlett gave the game a final twist. He trapped Godleman lbw for 28, bowled Wayne Madsen with one that kept low and then beat Hughes for pace to effectively leave Derbyshire on 4 for 3 but Chanderpaul eased the nerves in the home dressing room by driving Zander de Bruyn for three fours in an over.

Tremlett ended with match figures of 8 for 133, which was an excellent effort on a pitch where more than 1,000 runs had been scored, but the result means both Surrey and Derbyshire are still without a Championship victory.