Worrall's Late Burst Revives Surrey Hopes After Lees Century for Durham

Dan Worrall’s incisive second new-ball burst breathed new life into Surrey’s hopes of forcing victory in their County Championship clash with Durham, despite the contest still being firmly tilted towards a high-scoring draw at the Kia Oval.

Durham closed day three on 343 for 9 in response to Surrey’s mammoth 820 for 9 declared, still trailing by 477 runs. At one stage, a defiant 152-run partnership between captain Alex Lees and Ollie Robinson had appeared to blunt Surrey’s momentum, but Worrall’s triple strike triggered a collapse and kept the hosts in the hunt.

Lees produced a captain’s innings of immense discipline and concentration, scoring a fluent 125 across nearly six hours at the crease. He resumed on 33 in the morning with Durham on 59 for 1, and watched as Will Rhodes (26) and Colin Ackermann (24) fell before lunch. Sam Curran and Matt Fisher each took key wickets in the first session, with Curran particularly unlucky not to dismiss Lees lbw on 64.

Robinson joined Lees and injected momentum into the innings with a confident 79 from 105 deliveries, reaching his half-century with a towering six off Jordan Clark. Their fourth-wicket stand provided resilience and hope for Durham until Worrall's intervention with the second new ball turned the tide.

With the Kookaburra ball just taken, Worrall struck in quick succession — removing Robinson with a full inswinger, then finding the edge of Lees’ bat with a delivery that lifted and seamed away. He followed up with the wicket of New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham, who edged to Will Jacks at first slip.

Durham crumbled from 266 for 3 to 284 for 7, with George Drissell also falling on the stroke of tea, top-edging a pull off Fisher to mid-on. Post-interval, Graham Clark (30) and Matthew Potts (23) steadied the ship with a stubborn 46-run stand for the eighth wicket across 25 overs.

Potts batted resolutely for 79 balls before Dan Lawrence trapped him leg-before with an offbreak, and Worrall returned to uproot Clark’s middle stump with his fifth ball back. Injured allrounder Ben Raine hobbled out at No. 11 to see out the day alongside Daniel Hogg, who found the boundary twice off Fisher in the dying overs.

Despite the drama, the flat nature of the Kia Oval pitch and the dominance of bat over ball throughout the match point to a draw as the most likely outcome on the final day. Still, Surrey's hopes were reignited by Worrall’s clinical spell, as he finished with 4 for 49 from 23 overs.

Worrall's performance, particularly with the Kookaburra ball that has received widespread criticism in this mid-season experiment, stands out as a positive for England selectors. Now England-qualified, the Australian-born paceman may have just boosted his chances of inclusion in this winter’s Ashes squad for the return series Down Under.

Scorecard Summary
Durham 343 for 9 (Lees 125, Robinson 79, Worrall 4-49)
Trail Surrey 820 for 9 dec by 477 runs