Washington Sundar took care of defending champions' Surrey's tail before hitting a lone-effort half-century to keep Hampshire's chances of avoiding County Championship relegation alive.
Washington Sundar shines with bat and ball
The India all-rounder was part of a joint effort across Hampshire's bowling attack on day one, in which they dismantled Surrey for 147. Sundar castled up-and-coming middle-order batter Ollie Sykes, before taking the final two wickets of the innings in consecutive overs. Having only bowled 20 balls in the innings, Sundar finished with figures of 3-5, before Hampshire went in to bat on the first day of the final round fixture in Southampton.
After batting out the first day three wickets down and already with a slight lead over Surrey, Hampshire collapsed quickly on day two. After Matt Fisher dismissed Tony Albert and Ben Brown in the same over, Sundar came to the crease with Hampshire teetering on undoing their work of the previous day. Wickets continued to fall around him, with fellow spin-bowling all-rounder Liam Dawson the next man out, before he put on a 62-run partnership with James Fuller.
Having reached his half-century, however, and running out of partners, Sundar was the last wicket to fall in the innings for a 110-ball 56. His innings took Hampshire from 155-5 to 248 all-out, helping them get a lead of exactly 100 over Surrey.
Sundar also played a role in getting Hampshire off to a strong start in Surrey's second innings. He took a sharp catch at first slip, moving low to his left to dismiss Rory Burns for 4, and to leave Surrey 9-1.
Match 119, Hampshire vs Surrey
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Hampshire boost survival chances, Surrey title hopes falter
Sundar's all-round performance has given Hampshire renewed hope of surviving the five-team battle to avoid the second relegation spot. They went into the round only three points above ninth-placed Durham, having finished second in Division One last year.
Surrey, who have won the last three editions of the County Championship, had their hopes of a four-peat dashed after losing to Nottinghamshire last week. The defending champions need a win in Southampton to stand any chance of reeling Nottinghamshire in.
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