Surrey rewrote history with almost causal ease in the LV= Insurance County Championship on Wednesday, chasing down a target of 501 to beat Kent by five wickets at Canterbury.
What threatened to be a pulsating final day instead turned into a one-sided procession as Dom Sibley and Ben Foakes batted mercilessly, eclipsing Surrey’s previous highest chase of 410, made at this venue in 2002, to finish on 501 for five.
Foakes made 124, while Sibley scored what’s believed to be the slowest ever century in the county championship over the course of 511 minutes and 368 balls.
He eventually finished on 140 from 415 balls, seeing Surry home with Jordan Clark after a magnificent feat of concentration and endurance
Three days of violent momentum swings, luck, individual brilliance and human error had left the match almost perfectly poised at the start of day four, with Kent needing seven wickets and Surrey 238 runs.
It was the human factor that added the intrigue: without the dropped catches, the “poor” shots and the “bad” balls this would have been a torpid 700 v 700 bore draw.
The final day, however, offered almost none of the drama of the previous three.
Only once in the history of the county championship had a side chased over 500 to win: when Patsy Hendren hit an unbeaten 206 as Middlesex scored 502 to beat Notts by four wickets at Trent Bridge in 1925.
The reigning champions did it with a determination that belied everything that had gone before. Needing under three an over, they homed in on the target like an armour-plated milk float: slow but bombproof.
The morning session was almost ideal for Surrey. Foakes and Sibley saw off the new ball and scored predominantly in singles, at one point going ten overs without a boundary. Foakes survived an lbw appeal from Agar but they were otherwise unthreatened.
At lunch it was 335 for three and a Surrey win was looking as inevitable as an Arsenal title collapse. There was a fleeting moment of controversy when Kent were convinced Hamid Qadri had Foakes, on 73, caught behind, but it was an isolated outbreak of excitement during an almost catatonic afternoon.
Sibley finally reached three figures when he drove Joey Evison for four, beating the previous record, understood to be Jason Gallian’s 453-minute ton for Lancashire against Derbyshire at Blackpool in 1994. He just beat his partner to the landmark: Foakes took two from Jack Leaning in the next over to bring up a relatively quickfire hundred from 198 deliveries.
With the target now under a hundred, Surrey swapped the milk float for a Lamborghini. The 130th over went for 20 but Foakes then holed out to Joe Denly and was caught by Matt Quinn on the boundary, ending a partnership of 207.
It was 452 for four at tea, by which time Kent’s members had long been delivered from the hell of hope and the smattering of Surrey fans by the Old Dover Road entrance were savouring every minute.
Will Jacks was out for 19 caught by Agar off Arshdeep Singh but by then just 40 were needed. Clark sealed the win with a single off Denly and Surrey exited the field to a fully deserved ovation from home and away fans alike.
Surrey’s Dom Sibley said: “To chase that many and to win the game, the boys are buzzing. It’s great to stay at the top of the table.
(What was he thinking at lunchtime on day three). “It was about occupying the crease, spending time there, getting through the new ball, keep making them come back for more spells. I wasn’t in any rush and I didn’t need to be in any rush, but obviously it helps when Smithy comes in and plays an innings like that.
“It was one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen from the other end. The striking and the shot making was unbelievable and obviously Foakesie was similar today, so it was about occupying the crease and playing that anchor role for the knock. The two lads beside me were unbelievable, so credit to them.
“I think I’ve done ok this year at times. Coming back and being part of the team again after such a long time, it’s a great feeling to put in a performance like that. I’ve shown the lads I can play a little bit. I said to Foaksie when we were out there that I think that’s my first hundred for Surrey since I was at school.
“That meant a lot to me, it’s been weighing on my mind a little bit and I was pleased to help the boys get a win.
(On Jamie Smith)
“I was saying to the umpires, I can’t think of a better knock I’ve seen from the other end. I had the best view in the house and I feel very privileged to have watched it. He’s a special player, he’s shown that already this year in red and white ball cricket. He’s playing a different game at times and he’s a top class player.”
(On the target)
“Even when it was set we felt it wasn’t beyond our possibilities as a side. All the conversations were extremely positive yesterday and overnight and we’re obviously delighted to get the win.”
Kent’s Jack Leaning said: “I’m not really sure where to start to be honest. The boys are just deflated really. Understandably when you put a score like that on the board you think you’ve got a really good crack at defending it and at worst coming away with the draw, so credit to Surrey.
“They’ve put on a real masterclass of how to chase a score in the fourth innings. They’re a very experienced team, they’ve got a lot of good players and I feel like they’ve won the game rather than us losing it.
“All I asked for at the start of the week was for the team to stick together through the thick and the thin of the four days, to back each other up and to do it as a collective. I can’t ask for any more than what the lads have done this week. We’ve put on two decent scores, set them 500 to win in the fourth innings and bowled as well as we’ve bowled all season without any reward.
“We’ve probably missed out on a couple of decisions that on another day could have gone our way and it would have been a very different story. We dropped a couple of catches yesterday afternoon which you can’t afford to do in a chase like that, especially against a good side so it’s obviously a little bit raw at the moment but we’re back to Twenty20 cricket in a couple of days time so hopefully we can carry on the form we showed against Hampshire.
“It was a very good wicket today and I think it’s been a very good wicket all game to be honest. It’s not had excessive amounts of pace but it’s a good cricket wicket and they showed us how to bat fourth innings. I think it’s pretty good to focus on the fact that they won the game rather than us losing it. The boys gave everything, we tried every different plan, we went short, wide, full, slower balls, bouncers, spin from both ends over and round. They took everything in their stride and got the runs in the end, so fair play to them.
“It was always going to be a tough game and with the position we got ourselves in it’s disappointing to only come away with five points but I’d like to think if we play the way that we did consistently over the rest of the season we’ll be on the right end of many results.”