Result: Durham (401 & 246; Stoneman 92, Clark 54; S Curran 6/51) beat Surrey (367 & 259; Roy 96; Stokes 4/54) by 21 runs
Ben Stokes sealed Durham’s Division One status by taking four Surrey wickets in a gripping finish at Emirates Riverside.
The England all-rounder took 4/54, including the key wicket of Jason Roy with the first ball after tea, as Surrey were dismissed for 259.
Roy fell four short of his second century of the match, but Surrey were kept in the hunt by a fearless unbeaten 50 from 18-year-old Sam Curran to go with his seven wickets in Durham’s second innings.
Following their first innings stand of 164 the pair put on 143 after coming together at 11/3 in pursuit of 281.
After the persistent murk of the previous day, play again began with the floodlights on, but the sun was starting to emerge as Roy went to the crease and batting became more comfortable after lunch.
On nine Durham were convinced Roy had edged Brydon Carse’s first ball to wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter, then he edged the next ball where third slip had been prior to becoming a second gully.
He played with calm authority afterwards, but was struck on the hand by Carse on 44. After a lengthy delay he hooked the paceman to fine leg for one of the nine fours in his 79-ball half-century.
Durham turned to Scott Borthwick and in his second over he turned one sharply into Ansari to have him lbw on the back foot.
Roy’s 132-ball innings was ended when he gloved an attempted pull off Stokes to the wicketkeeper.
Sam Curran cracked Stokes to the cover boundary three times off the back foot before the England all-rounder tightened up with three successive maidens, the last of which included two wickets.
A stand of 54 ended when Ben Foakes pushed firmly and edged to Borthwick at second slip.
Two balls later Tom Curran edged to Poynter, bringing in Gareth Batty with 59 needed. He helped to add 30 before falling to a stunning catch by Keaton Jennings, diving to his left at third slip.
Onions took the last two, Stuart Meaker edging a drive to first slip before Mark Footitt had his stumps splattered.
In the morning murk Durham’s two remaining wickets added 33.
Curran took his seventh when Onions drove a full toss to mid-off and Durham were all out for 246.
Wood quickly took two wickets when Surrey batted, producing a snorter to have Kumar Sangakkara well caught by Poynter second ball.
It didn’t look good for Surrey, but Roy, Ansari and the younger Curran ensured a thrilling climax.
Close, Day Three: Durham (401 & 213/8; Stoneman 92, Clark 54; S Curran 6/51) lead Surrey (367; Roy 120; Onions 5/90) by 247 runs
Mark Stoneman held Durham together with 92 to set up a finely poised final day against Surrey in the Specsavers County Championship match at Emirates Riverside.
Stoneman, in his final innings before moving on in the winter, played at his fluent best before being trapped lbw by Sam Curran, who took six wickets.
The 18-year-old left-armer’s sensational burst of four wickets in seven balls rocked Durham before Graham Clark counter-attacked with a 53-ball half-century.
Coming in at 83/5, the Cumbrian put on 109 with Stoneman before Curran returned to have them both lbw when playing to leg.
Durham were 213/8, leading by 247, when the murk which had forced the floodlights to be kept on all day was deemed to have got worse.
Play was halted with 22 overs still to be bowled, but there is still every prospect of an intriguing final day.
Stoneman frustrated Surrey as he built steadily on a rapid start, passing 1,000 Championship runs for the fourth successive season.
He hit three fours in five balls from Mark Footitt early in his innings, the third being pulled just out of mid-on’s reach.
Scott Borthwick remained 33 short of 1,000 when he took 18 balls to get off the mark then fell for 12 when he became Curran’s first victim with the score on 77.
Wicketless in the first innings, Curran returned for a second spell after being given only three overs in his first.
Borthwick pushed forward to his second ball and edged to Ben Foakes. The next was slanted across right-hander Jack Burnham, who also edged to the wicketkeeper, then Ben Stokes was able to watch the hat-trick ball pass harmlessly by.
But in trying to withdraw his bat from the next ball, he edged to Kumar Sangakkara at first slip.
Paul Collingwood ran a four to third man but in Curran’s next over could only steer a ball rising towards his chest to third slip.
Three balls later Curran could have had another when Jason Roy got his left hand to an edge by Stoneman on 48.
But Curran began to stray, helping Clark off to a confident start. He is known as a powerful striker and on 31 he pulled Footitt behind square for a big six.
Two more powerful pulls off Tom Curran followed before Surrey turned to Zafar Ansari. Clark lofted the left-arm spinner over mid-on for his eighth four to reach 50, only to depart for 54 after tea.
Stoneman followed six overs later and Stuart Poynter made 19 before edging a drive at Footitt to first slip just before a halt was called.
Close, Day Two: Surrey (299/7; Roy 120; Onions 4/68) trail Durham (401; Jennings 201*) by 102 runs
Keaton Jennings became the sixth player to carry his bat for Durham in the early stages of Day Two against Surrey in the Specsavers County Championship.
The opener was stranded on 201* after Graham Onions helped his side over the five batting bonus point mark in the opening overs.
A century by Jason Roy helped Surrey to 299/7 in reply as the England One-Day opener rode his luck early on to cash in, reaching his second 50 from 41 balls.
But after sharing a third-wicket stand of 164 with Zafar Ansari four wickets went down for 24 runs.
Ansari went for a very solid 48 when he edged a drive at Jennings to slip, then Mark Wood struck with his second delivery with the new ball and Graham Onions with his first.
Ben Foakes was lbw when he walked across, looking to turn Wood to leg, and Roy went for 120 when Onions skidded one through to knock him off his feet and claim another lbw verdict.
Onions produced another beauty four overs later to claim his fourth wicket, beating Tom Curran’s forward push to trim his off bail.
Durham were twice convinced they had Roy caught behind, but his edges tended to be of the thicker variety, one flying wide of gully when looking to turn Brydon Carse to leg.
He hit Paul Collingwood’s first ball just out of short extra cover’s reach, and on 42 Onions had him in all kinds of trouble.
A ball which Roy played into the ground lobbed up and dropped just over the stumps, then he was beaten twice in the same over.
Onions also took two wickets in four balls shortly after lunch. He beat Dominic Sibley’s forward push on 31 to nick the off stump then nipped one back to have Kumar Sangakkara lbw for 48.
The only Surrey batsman to fall before lunch was Rory Burns, who was given an uncomfortable time by Wood and fell for 15 when an in-swinger took the left-hander’s inside edge on the way to wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter.
Carse, back after a three-month injury absence, posed a great threat and beat Sangakkara twice in his first two overs and remained out of luck as he and Stokes emerged wicketless.
Close, Day One: Durham (393/7; Jennings 200*) vs Surrey
Keaton Jennings produced another virtuoso display on the first day of Durham’s Specsavers County Championship match at home to Surrey.
The country’s leading run-scorer ran the day’s final ball from Stuart Meaker to third man for the four which took him to 200 and his total for the Championship season to 1,510.
His innings guided Durham to 393/9 at the close of a day, just seven runs shy of a fifth and final batting point.
Jennings, who recently signed a four-year deal with the club, also went ahead with the highest number of Championship centuries in a season for Durham with seven.
After a four-wicket burst by Mark Footitt it was he and Brydon Carse who steered the innings beyond 300.
Making his comeback in place of Chris Rushworth, the paceman contributed 32 to a stand of 79, then Mark Wood continued the resistance by making 28.
The other returning England man also reached the twenties before Ben Stokes had his stumps splattered by Footitt.
Stokes was stuck on the crease as the ball speared through his defences, but two of Footitt’s wickets came from poor deliveries.
Paul Collingwood reached for a full, wide one and gave a catch to gully, while Graham Clark spooned a catch to mid-wicket.
Jennings moved to his hundred with a reverse sweep for four after playing back five balls from left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari on 99.
That was his 18th four and after reaching his century off 171 balls he stepped on the gas with his next 50 coming off 61.
When the new ball was taken he slipped into overdrive as a series of imperious straight drives off the Curran brothers brought 30 runs off three overs. His fourth 50 came off 51 balls.
After Durham chose to bat, Scott Borthwick had the next highest score with 38 before Tom Curran skidded one on to him for an lbw verdict.
Stoneman was out for 20, having survived an edge off the excellent Curran on 11 before Ben Foakes accepted an easier chance off Stuart Meaker.
Meaker had Wood caught at second slip for his third wicket, leaving Graham Onions to keep Jennings company while he collected the runs which took him past 1,500.