Surrey opener Dom Sibley carried his bat for the sixth time in his career and made an unbeaten century to rescue the champions against Hampshire on day one of their County Championship match at The Oval.
The 29-year-old was unbeaten on 100 when Surrey were bowled out for 253 after being put in.
Hampshire lost Fletcha Middleton to a fine ball from Dan Worrall which nipped back to hit middle stump in the second over of their reply, but Mark Stoneman and Nick Gubbins took them to 55-1 from 16 overs at stumps, 198 behind.
Hampshire have lost their last four games at The Oval and have not won there for 17 years, but their attack justified skipper Ben Brown’s decision to bowl first on a typical Oval pitch that started with a good covering of grass.
Their seamers shared eight wickets with Brad Wheal (4-65) the pick of their attack, but they could not remove Sibley. He carried his bat five times for former county Warwickshire and only Geoff Boycott (eight) has now batted through a completed innings in the County Championship more times since World War Two.
Sibley offered one sharp chance on 54 which was put down by Toby Albert at short leg, but otherwise he accumulated with typical patience and determination. There was some assistance throughout the day for Hampshire’s seamers, but they were aided by some poor shot selection too. Surrey will feel their total was under-par for the conditions.
Sibley lost his opening partner Rory Burns in the second over when Wheal found just enough seam movement and the Surrey captain edged to second slip. Kyle Abbott then picked up Ollie Pope (14) who edged a delivery he might have ignored to first slip.
The most aggressive stroke play of the day came from Jamie Smith, whose 39 off 35 balls included seven fours, three of them lashed in one over from the New Zealander Brett Hampton.
Smith had helped Sibley take the score to 96 when he upper-cut Wheal to third man and Sonny Baker parried the ball just inside the boundary rope before completing the catch. Hampshire confirmed it had been their morning in the last over before lunch when Ben Foakes (14) played on to Abbott.
Wheal got just enough away movement to defeat Dan Lawrence’s loose drive and leave Surrey 129-5, but Sibley found a useful ally in Ryan Patel for much of an absorbing afternoon session. They added 68 in 29 overs for the sixth wicket before Patel mis-timed a pull off Hampton and lobbed up an easy catch to mid-off in the penultimate over before tea.
In a rare show of aggression Sibley calmly swatted Liam Dawson over the wide long on boundary but at the other end Jordan Clark, Matthew Fisher and Kemar Roach fell cheaply after tea and when last man Dan Worrall came out Sibley was still 15 runs short of his century.
Another six, this time off Wheal over square-leg, took him into the 90s and with Worrall, who has made two fifties in his career, looking comfortable at the other end Sibley duly reached the 23rd hundred of his career before taking the acclaim of a crowd of 5,639.
He batted just shy of six-and-a-half hours, faced 217 balls and hit nine fours as he became the first Surrey batter since Burns in 2017 – also against Hampshire – to carry his bat.
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