WORCESTERSHIRE are still searching for their first win of the County Championship season after suffering a heavy 281-run defeat against defending champions Surrey at the Kia Oval, writes Mark Caswell.
Both teams went into the game without a recognised spinner, as the seamers dominated throughout, with only the last two wickets of the game taken by a spinner.
Surrey, who look stronger than last year’s title winning team, had to wait until late on the first day before they took control and built on their 85-run first innings lead.
That left Worcestershire an unlikely 513 to win after Matthew Waite (6-88) starred with the ball over the two innings while debutant Yadvinder Singh (4-103) took his first first class wickets in the second innings.
In their pursuit of 513, the visitors made a poor start and found themselves on the brink of defeat on 102-8 as five batters made double figures.
A defiant knock from Matthew Smith (60) and some speculative hitting from Ben Gibbon (75) proved in vain while Singh (14 not out) was the Pears next highest scorer.
Despite the heavy defeat, there is still plenty of hope for Worcestershire who are unlikely to come up against a team as good as Surrey for the rest of the season.
And a return to New Road at the end of the month should restore morale and will hopefully improve their fortunes on the pitch.
