Ravichandran Ashwin demolishes Somerset batting line-up by picking up 6/27 in the second innings
After a quiet outing in the first innings(1/99 in 43 overs), Ravichandran Ashwin truly announced his arrival in the 2021 County championship by running through the Somerset batting line-up in the second innings.
Opening the bowling for Surrey, the Indian off-spinner dismissed Steven Davies(7) and gave the first breakthrough to his side.
After gaining confidence from an early wicket, Ashwin(6/27) spun a web around the opponents and demolished their batting order.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Daniel Moriarty(4/20) played a perfect foil for the Tamil Nadu spinner as the duo bowled in tandem to make life difficult for Somerset batters.
Interestingly, only two of Ashwin's victims were southpaws, against whom he has an exceptional record. The 34-year-old also took the key wicket of first-innings centurion James Hildreth to put pressure on the opposition's batting line-up.
Ashwin's ripping off-spinner to bowl George Bartlett out was the highlight of the innings.
Earlier, Somerset batted first and put in a massive score of 429 in the first innings. James Hildreth(107) played a captain's knock to help his team reach a good total.
In reply, Surrey got all-out for just 240 runs and gave Somerset a 189-run lead. Jack Leach(6/43) was the wrecker-in-chief for the visitors.
Openers Rory Burns(50) and Mark Stoneman(67) were the only batters to cross 50 for Surrey in the first innings. Ashwin was out for a golden duck in his first outing for Surrey.
The home team's spinners Ashwin and Moriarty got into the act quickly in the third innings and bundled out Somerset batters for a paltry score of 69. Surrey now needs to chase down 259 runs in around 56 overs to win the contest.
Ravichandran Ashwin's 6/27 today was his best spell in a county game. It was also his seventh five-wicket haul in the County Championship across three stints.
Earlier, he had picked up two five-wicket hauls for Worcestershire and four five-wicket hauls for Nottinghamshire county.