Thursday 28 April 2016 12:22, UK
Kumar Sangakkara added a second-innings half-century to his 171 in the first as Surrey and Somerset shook hands on a draw at the Oval.
Surrey began their second innings at the start of the final day having bowled Somerset out for 353 at the end of day three for a lead of 110, but were under a little pressure as they fell to 18-2 with both openers back in the hutch.
However, Sangakkara steadied the ship with Steven Davies (26) and then Jason Roy to take Surrey to 104-3 at lunch. Roy (19) departed shortly after lunch but the Sri Lankan ploughed on, passing 50 before eventually being dismissed by Craig Overton (3-55) for 71.
Tom Curran and Gareth Batty soon followed, leading Surrey to declare on 181-8, a lead of 291.
Ravi Rampaul, who took a five-for in the first innings, removed Tom Abell for a duck to put some pressure on Somerset and that was added to when Zafar Ansari had Marcus Trescothick caught by Roy for 12.
Ansari (3-43) then bowled Chris Rogers (24) and Roelof van der Merwe (2) to leave Somerset precariously placed at 62-4, but James Hildreth (40 not out) and Peter Trego (34 not out) calmed the visitors' nerves and with the score at 122-4, a draw was declared.
Neither side was able to force at result at Edgbaston either with reigning champions Yorkshire and Warwickshire having to settle for a draw.
Resuming on 205-2, Warwickshire lost centurion Varun Chopra (107) early, the opener adding only six to his overnight score, but continued to chip away at and eventually surpassed Yorkshire's first innings total.
Jonathan Trott (74), Tim Ambrose (61 not out) and Rikki Clarke (51) all made half-centuries while Adil Rashid picked up 4-127 for Yorkshire before Warwickshire declared on 443-9, a lead of 64.
Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth (8) and Alex Lees (20) but Gary Ballance and Andrew Gale took them on to 73-2 before, with little prospect of a result, the sides shook hands on a draw.
Durham and Middlesex's encounter at Chester-le-Street ended in a draw with only three overs of play possible on the final day.
After no play was possible on day three, the start of the final day was pushed back until 1.40pm when the hosts resumed on 295-4, in reply to Middlesex's 389.
Mark Stoneman, having had to wait patiently on 139 not out for the previous day and a half, soon helped Durham past 300 to register another batting bonus point but within minutes of the restart a mixture of rain and snow forced the players off again.
With no sign of any improvement in the conditions, the decision was made to abandon the rest of the day's play and the inevitable draw was confirmed, Stoneman finishing 141 not out.
