Warwickshire 330 for 2 (Mousley 112*, Hain 80*, Yates 70, Davies 58) lead Surrey 328 (Foakes 128, Lawes 83) by two runs
It was certainly a good toss for Warwickshire to win on Friday, enabling their seamers to bowl in cloudy, damp weather on the first morning. But while Surrey’s bowlers had much less help from the conditions, they did not help themselves. Too much loose fare was delivered, as illustrated by the Bears’ boundary count – 52 fours in 80 overs.
Surrey’s first innings having ended in the last over of the first day, Warwickshire’s began at the start of the second and their openers were soon making brisk progress. Davies, in his first match since relinquishing the captaincy, was especially fluent. He reached 50 from 71 balls with his 11th four, caressed through midwicket off Matt Fisher, and as the score hurried to 85 without loss after 21 overs, Surrey turned early to spin. It brought the breakthrough, though the openers had added 116 in 23 overs before Davies departed in disbelief after flicking Dan Lawrence off the middle of the bat straight to Ollie Pope at midwicket.
Yates, circumspect at first, gained rhythm as he reached his 16th first-class half-century off 89 balls, but then edged Sean Abbott to Rory Burns at slip. It proved to be an isolated moment of joy in a barren afternoon for Surrey as Mousley and Hain concentrated diligently and waited patiently for the next loose ball to come along. Mousley reached his half-century from 77 balls, Hain soon followed to his from 74.
With the seamers impotent, 18-year-old left-arm spinner Ralphie Albert was pressed into action rather more than envisaged and, on a pitch increasingly good for batting, he acquitted himself well. Surrey captain Rory Burns rotated his bowlers in vain, however, as Mousley and Hain batted with great discipline.
Last week, Mousley, looking ahead to the new season, told The Bear website: “I have made a lot of 60s and 70s where I was playing well, so not capitalising is something I need to address. It is something which I am starting to learn.” His learning appears to be going well as, in his first innings of the season, he reached three figures from 123 balls with his 17th four. The milestone was greeted by huge cheers from spectators delighted by the success of an immensely popular home-grown player.
Shortly after Warwickshire moved in front, bad light closed in to lop off the last 16 overs. The glory of three recent County Championship titles must have seemed light years away for Surrey as they toiled away fruitlessly in the cold Birmingham wind. The silver lining for them is the pitch which has matured into a very good one for batting. They may have to bat long and well on it to return south with a draw.
