Shahid fires Surrey to brink of title

Warwickshire 345 & 154-3 Surrey 544

The last time Surrey dominated a match against Warwickshire, earlier this season, they ended up losing. Yesterday, however, they went a long way to ensuring that they do not repeat the mistake and, as a consequence of their hard work, at some point today they should be confirmed as the 2002 county champions.

They have ruled affairs in this so-called "championship decider" since losing the toss, underlining their superiority by reducing their closest challengers to also-rans in the title race.

They started by thrashing the Warwickshire attack to all parts as they secured maximum batting points and a substantial first innings lead, then picked off key batsmen in the late afternoon and early evening to leave the home side stuttering some 45 runs away from making Surrey bat again and with only seven wickets remaining with which to do so.

As bravely as the captain, Michael Powell, dug in with the stand-in opener Mark Wagh – regular Nick Knight was nursing a sore hip and although he later emerged with a runner, his incapacity was an unhappy and unexpected handicap for Warwickshire – there was no stopping Surrey's attack, just as there had been no way of controlling their batsmen earlier.

Nadeem Shahid rattled off another invaluable ton, the ninth of his career, sharing in a telling fourth-wicket stand of 146 with a strangely subdued Alistair Brown, who still made a useful half century, passing 1,000 runs in a season for the sixth time in his career.

Then, when his captain Adam Hollioake joined him, Shahid was party to a savage onslaught, the pair of them smashing 50 of their 77-run stand in just six overs. And the brutal treatment did not end when Shahid fell for 116 – held at first slip by Shaun Pollock off Ashley Giles – having hit 21 boundaries and a six.

Hollioake, who had hit three sixes off the unfortunate Giles, went on to hit a fourth off the England left-arm spinner and a monster off paceman Dougie Brown to finish unbeaten on 82, in the process passing 500 runs in this, his 11th innings of the season.

There was little surprise that Warwickshire could not emulate the fireworks. With a shortfall of 199 to make up before they could have another dart at the First Division leaders they had to proceed with caution on a pitch that is becoming slower and lower. By the close, the chances ofWarwickshire at least saving the match and delaying Surrey's celebration of a third Championship pennant in four years for a little longer remained somewhat remote.