Watch: England all-rounder Sam Curran turned to bowling finger spin at The Oval today (July 2), as Surrey whiled away the overs in a high-scoring stalemate.
The left-arm seam-bowling all-rounder took a wicket with his normal action in Surrey's first bowling innings of the match, which came after the hosts put on a record total. The defending County Champions scored 820-9 across the first two days of the game, their highest total in the competition's history. As part of that score, Curran blitzed 108 off 124 balls coming in at No.4, in a knock which contained 15 boundaries.
After Surrey declared their innings and put Durham into bat in the evening of day two, they gained a brief hope of forcing a victory on a flat surface. Durham were all out for 362, well short of the 621 they needed to avoid the follow-on, and Rory Burns duly opted to put them in again. However, a sterner test was put up by Durham's openers the second time around, with both Alex Lees and Emilio Gay scoring centuries.
As the match meandered towards a draw on day four, Curran turned to a different method to try and prize one of the openers out. He jogged in off a few paces and sent down some left-arm finger-spin, committing to the role by keeping his sunglasses on as he delivered the ball. It didn't trouble Gay, however, who surpassed 150 late in the evening session.
Watch: Sam Curran turns his arm to spin at The Oval
We're back underway at the Kia Oval, with Sam Curran bowling left arm off-spin...
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 2, 2025
Durham 186/0, trailing by 268.
Really rating Sam's commitment to the role of off-spinner. 🕶️
🤎 | #SurreyCricket pic.twitter.com/Wl7DBL6nT4
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