CRICKET-Roach helps Surrey win fourth in a row.

LONDON, May 19, CMC – The indomitable spirit of West Indies pacer Kemar Roach and the relentless attack of Australia-born fellow pacer Dan Worrall propelled leaders Surrey towards a hat-trick of English County Championship titles. Their stellar performance led to a resounding victory over Worcestershire, with a staggering margin of 281 runs, on Sunday.

The 35-year-old Barbadian ended with two for 29 from 11 overs, but it was Australia-born fellow pacer Dan Worrall who led the demolition of Worcs for 231 in their second innings in the first hour after the tea break on the third day of the contest at the Oval.

Worrall bagged four for 35 from 16 overs and ended the match with 10 for 57, and late hitting from Ben Gibbon and Nathan Smith delayed the inevitable after Worcs were set a highly improbable, if not impossible, target of 513 to win.

Gibbon hit a career-best 75 from 63 balls and shared 71 for the ninth wicket with Smith, whose 60 came from 57 balls, and 58 with last man Yadvinder Singh to add respectability to the Worcs total.

Surrey’s fourth consecutive win was a testament to their unwavering dominance in the Championship. As this round of matches draws to a close on Monday, they are poised to extend their lead at the top of the table. Starting the match on Friday with a comfortable 21-point lead, they further solidified their position with a gain of 19 points from this match.

Surrey’s second-innings total of 427, built around 98 from Jordan Clark, 87 from Dan Lawrence, 71 from Jamie Smith, and 70 from their captain Rory Burns, left Worcestershire—85 runs in arrears on the first innings—with an unrealistic target to chase. Their batting was no match for Roach, Worrall, and the rest of the Surrey attack.

Roach’s precision got Kashif Ali caught at leg slip for 12, and Joe Leach caught behind for six, but it was Worrall who wreaked havoc on the Worcestershire batting line-up. In a calamitous period between lunch and tea, the visitors collapsed from 22 for one to 145 for eight, sealing their fate in the match.

Earlier, Surrey spent 75 minutes adding 85 to their overnight 342 for five, with Lawrence and Clark – resuming on 86 and 69, respectively – failing to complete their hundreds after adding 117 together in 22 overs for the sixth wicket.

Singh was the pick of Worcs bowlers with four for 103 from 19.3 overs; left-arm pacer Gibbon and fellow pacer Matthew Waite ended with three wickets apiece.