Hampshire ‘outplayed right from the start’ as Surrey inflict another Oval thrashing on them in the LV= County Championship

After losing last year’s LV= County Championship game by an innings and 289 runs, they were trounced by an innings and 17 runs on the same Oval ground.

After piling up first innings totals of 579-7 (2019) and 560-7 (2021) against Hampshire in their last two Championship home games against them, this time Surrey opened with 467.

They then bowled Hampshire out for 223 and 227.

Birrell said: ‘We were outplayed in this game right from the start. They got an above par score in their first innings; we were then under pressure and it showed.

‘We didn’t play very well. On the first day we didn’t bowl as well as we should have done on that pitch and they got 100 runs too many, even though we pegged them back quite well on day two.

‘Then, with the bat, we didn’t get partnerships going and we just kept losing wickets too regularly.’

No 8 Keith Barker (57), Ben Brown (49) and No 9 James Fuller (41) top scored in Hampshire’s first innings, while Joe Weatherley (87), skipper James Vince (57) and Brown (30 not out) were the only ones to offer much in the way of second innings resistance.

Jamie Overton took his first five-wicket haul for Surrey and then added three further second innings wickets as Hampshire were routed inside three days.

All-rounder Jordan Clark’s 4-55 completed his own fine match with the ball in Surrey’s first win of the Division 1 season, while 21-year old rookie seamer James Taylor also impressed with 3-56 after Hampshire had been asked to follow on.

Former Somerset fast bowler Overton, who joined Surrey late in the 2020 season, more than made up for the absence of West Indies Test quick Kemar Roach – who suffered a hamstring injury on day two – by grabbing the mantle of attack spearhead with match figures of 8-107.

Hampshire, who started the third day still 315 runs adrift at 152-7, kept their first innings alive for just over an hour before Overton finished it off with a dramatic burst of three wickets in four balls to claim 5-54.

Overton then added another 3-53 as Hampshire were dismissed with 15.2 day three overs remaining.

Clark clean bowled both Fuller, for 12, and Kyle Abbott, whose third-ball 0 was his second duck of the day, in the same over. Soon afterwards wrapped things up by having last man Mohammad Abbas caught at second slip for a duck.

Weatherley and Vince added exactly 100 for the third wicket but Overton parted them and Taylor struck a significant blow by having Vince caught down the legside by keeper Ben Foakes seven balls before tea.

In the final session Overton, with his short ball a real weapon on an easy-paced surface, had Felix Organ (5) acrobatically caught by Will Jacks at gully and Taylor quickly followed that by having Barker (5) leg-before.

For much of the day’s opening hour, though, it looked like being tough going for Surrey with Fuller being badly dropped on 15 by Ollie Pope at second slip off Clark in the day’s second full over.

Fuller and Barker then played with great freedom to take their eighth wicket partnership, on 20 overnight, to 90 in just 17 overs before Overton produced his dramatic triple-strike.

Barker, who had hit Jacks’ off spin straight for successive sixes to complete his half-century in some style, initially drove Overton powerfully past mid off for four.

But he was then undone by a vicious lifter which he could only edge through to Foakes as he tried to fend it off from in front of his face.

Overton’s first ball to Abbott, the new batsman, was an even nastier bouncer which the tailender did well to avoid. The next, the last ball of the over, was fended meekly to short leg.

Fuller, who had also greeted Overton’s introduction by uppercutting and then off-driving him for boundaries, was yorked by the first ball of Overton’s next over.

He had made 41 from 48 balls, with six fours, while Barker’s equally punchy 57 took him only 68 balls, with two sixes and nine fours.

Hampshire, in again, were 46-2 by lunch as Taylor had Ian Holland (8) well held by Pope at second slip and Nick Gubbins (6) edged to Foakes a back foot defensive push at seamer Clark, who was operating around the wicket to the left-hander.

Weatherley, however, looked in good touch as he and Vince frustrated Surrey’s bowlers, the pair also scoring at more than five runs an over. There was one top-edged pull at Clark, which looped away for two, but otherwise Weatherley was untroubled and it again took Overton to make an important breakthrough.

Overton first struck Weatherley under the chin with his first ball back and, after being square cut beautifully for four following a short delay for concussion protocols, the tall paceman made another ball lift steeply to take the shoulder of the bat and fly high for Foakes to pull off a spectacular leaping catch away to his right.

Weatherley’s fine two-hour effort had come from 96 balls, including a hooked six off Clark and nine fours. Overton was soon celebrating once more when Liam Dawson (3) lifted a pull to long leg where Ryan Patel pulled off a good running catch.

Surrey earned 22 points from their win, with Hampshire’s two points a bitter disappointment for them after an innings victory against Somerset in the previous week’s Championship opener.

Hampshire’s third game of the season starts against Kent at Canterbury on Thursday.