LONDON, CMC – Former West Indies speedster Fidel Edwards shone yet again but Hampshire failed to produce with the bat, and slumped to a heavy 139-run defeat to Surrey in their County Championship match here yesterday.
Resuming the final day on 116 for four in pursuit of a massive 472 for victory at the Oval, Hampshire slid to 332 all out in their second innings, despite Sam Northeast’s 129.
He put on 64 for the fifth wicket with South African Rilee Rossouw (29) to pull Hampshire around from 84 for four, and then added a further 68 for the ninth with Brad Wheal (10).
Unbeaten on 14 at the start, Northeast struck 19 fours off 254 balls in 5-3/4 hours at the crease before being the last man out.
Nineteen-year-old off-spinner Amar Virdi was the star for Surrey, snatching four for 79 to help hurt the innings and deal the visitors their first loss of the new season.
On Sunday, Edwards finished with three for 130 as Surrey, resuming the penultimate day on 217 for four, declared their second innings on 407 for nine.
Ben Foakes, unbeaten on the start on 50, made 81 before becoming Edwards’s first wicket of the day, bowled for 81.
Twenty-year-old Ollie Pope struck 145 – his second first class hundred – to power the hosts up to 332 for six.
But Edwards struck in successive overs to help trigger a slid which saw three wickets fall for 44 runs.
The 36-year-old Barbadian ended with the match with a seven-wicket haul.
