Surrey overwhelm Nottinghamshire

Graham Thorpe's unbeaten century was the main factor in Surrey's defeat on Nottinghamshire by 127 runs with just under ten overs remaining at Guildford - a victory which has extended their lead at the top of Division Two of the National League.

The England left-hander contributed 126 n.o. to Surrey's 273-3 from 45 overs, which was the highest score made against Nottinghamshire in the League this summer. The visitors were then bowled out for 146 in 35.2 overs.

His hundred was achieved in 99 deliveries and altogether he played 127 balls in scoring 14 fours for his fifth century in the competition. Thorpe added 139 with Ian Ward (51 from 52 balls) for the second-wicket and 74 with Ally Brown for the third. In this latter stand the score rose from 149 to 223 from only 56 balls, of which Brown hit 37 with six boundaries from 24 deliveries.

Darren Bicknell, the former Surrey opening batsman,and Jason Gallian began with a steady 57 runs first-wicket partnership, but the former was run out for 14 as wicketkeeper Jon Batty hit the stumps with a direct throw. His partner was caught by Ward off Jason Ratcliffe for 42 made from 47 balls.

The dismissal of John Morris, who had scored heavily against Sussex in the preceding county championship match, removed Notts' last real hope of catching Surrey. They slipped to 111-7 with Saqlain Mushtaq and Ratcliffe taking 3-25 and 3-39 respectively in their nine overs.

In their frustration the batsmen took risks asking the tight bowling and paid the penalty. Paul Franks and Paul Reiffel added 30 runs for the eighth wicket but the competitive edge had gone from the match.