Late wickets check Surrey's progress against Bears

Warwickshire 343: Barnard 108; Clark 4-65

Surrey 327-6: Smith 98*; Miles 5-43

Surrey (5 pts) trails Warwickshire (5 pts) by 16 runs

Match scorecard

Jamie Smith's brilliant 98 not out and a fourth wicket stand of 139 runs with Ben Foakes propelled Surrey into a position of strength at mid-off against Warwickshire at the Kia Oval.

But it could have been better for the champions, with Craig Miles taking three wickets in three overs with the second new ball to level Surrey back at 327-6 at the close in response to Warwickshire's 343.

Miles, who posted superb figures of 5-43, beat Foakes for 52 with a ball that stayed low and followed up by pinning Dan Lawrence lbw for three and, three balls later, having night keeper Kemar Roach kept beautifully low by Rob Yates at second slip.

Smith remained undefeated, however, with some compelling knocks so far bringing him two sixes and 14 fours, and in addition Cameron Steel (four not out) , Surrey still have all-rounders Jordan Clark and Sean Abbott as they attempt to transform. a slight 16-point deficit for a potentially decisive Day 3 lead.

The late drama involving Miles also included rolling his right ankle in celebration at Roach. wicket – with what was his last ball at the end of the penultimate day – before immediately limping off the field for treatment.

Ollie Pope, meanwhile, is still looking for his first significant score of the season after contributing...