Surrey created history against Kent in County Championship 2023. Their chase of 501 is the second-highest chase in County Championship history after Middlesex’s chase of 502 against Nottinghamshire in 1925. Dom Sibley played a great marathon inning alongside Ben Foakes and Jamie Smith in the fourth innings to script history.
Surrey creates history
Sibley opened the batting for Surrey and remained not out as he scored 140 runs in 415 balls. His knock meant that he stayed at the crease for close to 10 hours. Batting at 4 Jamie Smith played a ‘Bazball’ style of knock as he scored 114 runs in just 77 balls striking at an excess of 148. Smith was dismissed by the young Indian pacer, Arshdeep Singh. Arshdeep rattled his stumps on his County debut. Wicket Keeper Foakes joined Sibley and shared a 200-run-plus stand. Foakes scored 124 runs off 211 balls before being dismissed. For Kent, Arshdeep took two wickets while Wes Agar, Hamidullah Qadri and Joe Denly took one wicket each.
First Innings
Kent batted first and scored 301 runs after a shaky start from the top and middle order. They were 5 wickets down with just 41 runs on the board as Daniel Bell-Drummond, Joe Denly and captain Jack Leaning were dismissed for ducks. A century from wicketkeeper Jordan Cox and half-centuries from Joey Evison and Wes Agar helped them reach the 300-run mark. For Surrey, Sean Abbott was the pick of the bowlers as he took 4 wickets. Jordan Clark and Gus Atkinson took two wickets each while Daniel Worrall and Dan Moriarty took one wicket each.
Batting Scorecard
| Batter | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Tawanda Muyeye | c Sibley b Abbott | 21 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 58.33 |
| Ben Compton | c Jacks b Abbott | 9 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 27.27 |
| Daniel Bell-Drummond | lbw b Clark | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Denly | b Abbott | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Leaning (c) | c Foakes b Clark | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Cox | c Clark b Abbott | 133 | 198 | 17 | 2 | 67.17 |
| Joey Evison | c Foakes b Moriarty | 58 | 107 | 9 | 0 | 54.20 |
| Hamidullah Qadri | c Foakes b Atkinson | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 62.50 |
| Matt Quinn | b Atkinson | 10 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 43.47 |
| Wes Agar | c Sibley b Worrall | 51 | 70 | 9 | 0 | 72.85 |
| Arshdeep Singh | Not Out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Total: 301/10
Bowling scorecard
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
| Daniel Worrall | 16.2 | 1 | 55 | 1 | 3.36 |
| Sean Abbott | 17 | 3 | 52 | 4 | 3.05 |
| Jordan Clark | 15 | 5 | 40 | 2 | 2.66 |
| Gus Atkinson | 16 | 2 | 57 | 2 | 3.56 |
| Dan Moriarty | 13 | 0 | 70 | 1 | 5.38 |
| Will Jacks | 5 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 3.20 |
Second Innings
Surrey team while batting was bundled out for just 145 runs as six batters registered single-digit scores. For Kent, Matt Quinn and Wes Agar picked up three wickets each while Joey Evinson and Arshdeep Singh picked up two wickets each. Arshdeep’s first wicket in County came when he dismissed wicketkeeper Foakes for an lbw.
Batting scorecard
| Batter | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Rory Burns (c) | c Quinn b Agar | 15 | 34 | 4 | 0 | 44.11 |
| Dom Sibley | c Cox b Quinn | 9 | 58 | 1 | 0 | 15.51 |
| Gus Atkinson | c Quinn b Agar | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Latham | c Muyeye b Quinn | 3 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 11.53 |
| Jamie Smith | c Muyeye b Quinn | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Ben Foakes | lbw Arshdeep Singh | 3 | 6 | 17 | 2 | 50 |
| Will Jacks | b Agar | 6 | 19 | 9 | 0 | 31.57 |
| Jordan Clark | b Evinson | 25 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 53.19 |
| Sean Abbott | c Cox b Evison | 34 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 91.89 |
| Daniel Worrall | b Arshdeep Singh | 12 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Dan Moriarty | Not Out | 13 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 118.18 |
Total: 145/10
Bowling Scorecard
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
| Matt Quinn | 12 | 6 | 22 | 3 | 1.83 |
| Wes Agar | 12 | 5 | 32 | 3 | 2.66 |
| Arshdeep Singh | 14.2 | 4 | 43 | 2 | 3 |
| Hamidullah Qadri | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Joey Evison | 4 | 0 | 22 | 2 | 5.50 |
Third Innings
After gaining a healthy lead of 156 runs Kent came on to bat once again. Opener Tawanda Muyeye top scored with 79 runs in 120 balls. Contributions from Daniel Bell-Drummond (59 runs), Joey Evison (42 runs) and Hamidullah Qadri (72 runs) allowed them to get to a score of 344 runs. For Surrey, Jordan Clark took a five-wicket haul while Daniel Worrall took three wickets. Sean Abbott and Gus Atkinson also took one wicket each.
Batting Scorecard
| Batter | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Tawanda Muyeye | c Latham b Atkinson | 79 | 120 | 12 | 0 | 58.33 |
| Ben Compton | c Atkinson b Clark | 17 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 27.27 |
| Daniel Bell-Drummond | c Foakes b Worrall | 59 | 114 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Denly | c Foakes b Worrall | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Leaning (c) | c Foakes b Worrall | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Cox | c Foakes b Abbott | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 67.17 |
| Joey Evenson | c Smith b Clark | 42 | 65 | 3 | 2 | 54.20 |
| Hamidullah Qadri | c Jacks b Clark | 72 | 85 | 9 | 2 | 62.50 |
| Wes Agar | b Clark | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 43.47 |
| Matt Quinn | b Clark | 37 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 72.85 |
| Arshdeep Singh | Not Out | 12 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 100 |
Total: 344/10
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Bowling Scorecard
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
| Daniel Worrall | 23 | 4 | 63 | 3 | 2.73 |
| Sean Abbott | 21 | 3 | 95 | 1 | 4.52 |
| Will Jacks | 4 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 6.25 |
| Gus Atkinson | 12 | 0 | 55 | 1 | 4.58 |
| Jordan Clark | 17 | 1 | 79 | 5 | 4.64 |
| Dan Moriarty | 4 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 4 |
Fourth Innings
With the target of 501 in front of them they had a shaky start as captain Rory Burns was dismissed on the second ball of the innings. Sibley scored 140 while remaining not out, Jamie Smith and Foakes scored centuries and Tom Latham also scored a half-century. For Kent, Arshdeep took two wickets while Agar, Qadri and Denly also took one wicket each.
Batting Scorecard
| Batter | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Rory Burns (c) | c Leaning b Agar | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 200 |
| Dom Sibley | Not Out | 140 | 415 | 17 | 0 | 33.73 |
| Tom Latham | c Bell-Drummond b Hamidullah Qadri | 58 | 119 | 9 | 0 | 48.73 |
| Jamie Smith | b Arshdeep Singh | 114 | 77 | 18 | 4 | 148.05 |
| Ben Foakes | c Quinn b Denly | 124 | 211 | 15 | 2 | 58.76 |
| Will Jacks | c Agar b Arhsdeep Singh | 19 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 76 |
| Jordan Clark | Not Out | 26 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 86.66 |
Total: 501/5
Bowling Scorecard
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
| Wes Agar | 33 | 4 | 119 | 1 | 3.60 |
| Matt Quinn | 26 | 5 | 61 | 0 | 2.34 |
| Arshdeep Singh | 30 | 11 | 90 | 2 | 3 |
| Joey Evison | 23 | 3 | 87 | 0 | 3.78 |
| Hamidullah Qadri | 22 | 5 | 70 | 1 | 3.18 |
| Joe Denly | 10.1 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 4.03 |
| Jack Leaning | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 11.5 |
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