County Championship: Essex set Surrey huge target at The Oval

Charlie Allison, a 20-year old with a previous first-class best of just 28, hit a memorable maiden hundred to stun champions Surrey at the Oval.

Allison’s brilliant 140, in his sixth first-class match, helped Essex rack up a second innings total of 479 and leave Surrey with an unlikely victory target of 418.

By stumps, in eight overs’ batting, they reached 32 without loss.

Surrey’s six-pronged pace attack was neutered on an easing pitch, leaving Rory Burns’s side facing a stiff final day battle for a draw to maintain their unbeaten start to the County Championship season.

Towards the end of the innings, Colchester-born Allison hit a weary Dan Worrall for two sixes over long on and there were also 19 fours in a 235-ball epic spanning just over five hours.

Allison, remarkably, had come in on a pair after being caught behind off New Zealand Test all-rounder Nathan Smith from his fifth ball in Essex’s first innings.

In nine previous first-class innings, since making his debut last month, he had made only 154 runs at an average of 17.11.

But when he tucked his 185th ball to deep mid on and sauntered for a single, Allison was coolness personified as he initially hardly reacted to his achievement until removing his helmet and raising both arms in the air to acknowledge generous applause from the third day crowd.

Noah Thain, his contemporary from Essex age groups and recent England U19 teams, gave Allison a bear hug and the pair then continued an impressive seventh wicket stand that eventually raised 116.

Thain made 50 before holing out to long off and, earlier, Allison had helped Tom Westley – who fought hard for his own 50 – to blunt a Surrey attack already up against it after Paul Walter’s superlative 118 on day two.

Essex had resumed 133 ahead on 195-2, and Dean Elgar (64) could not believe it when he attempted to square drive a full ball angled across him by Worrall and succeeded only in slicing it all the way to third man where Smith took the catch.

Allison was fortunate to get off the mark with an inside-edged four, the ball narrowly missing off stump as he tried to square cut a delivery from Worrall that was too close to him for the stroke.

But the youngster settled his nerves by soon hitting Smith beautifully to the cover boundary, his second scoring shot, and then taking further fours off his pads against Jamie Overton and through extra cover off Tom Lawes.

Overton even touched 88mph in a pacy spell in which he was always in the mid-80s, but Westley was equal to the challenge with fours through extra cover and tucked neatly off his pads.

On 35, Westley survived a difficult low chance to Sam Curran, diving to his right, as he clipped Lawes off his legs but the Essex total had moved on to 266-3 by the time Surrey took the second new ball 20 minutes before lunch.

Jordan Clark, nursing a sore toe, was brought on for his first bowl of the day immediately after lunch and, with his 10th ball, he had Westley athletically caught by Kurtis Patterson – diving to his right – at point.

Worrall then pinned Matt Critchley leg-before for four, nine runs later, and at 294-5 it seemed as if Surrey were back in the game with almost five sessions remaining.

Michael Pepper, however, hung around to make 18 in a 49-run stand with Allison, until Curran – finally thrown the ball for the 50th over of the day – struck with his seventh delivery to have Pepper caught behind.

But Allison and Thain capped a brilliant day for Essex by staying together for almost two hours after Pepper’s dismissal 45 minutes before tea.

Allison finally miscued a swipe at Clark, giving a simple return catch as the last few Essex wickets fell in a flurry of slogs, but whatever he goes on to achieve in his cricket career he will never forget this day.

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