Day One

Hampshire went to The Oval after a comprehensive victory against Somerset at Utilita Bowl, and James Vince started well by calling correctly at the toss.

He opted to bowl first on a green Oval pitch and struck after an hour when Ian Holland dismissed Surrey captain Rory Burns for 21 as the England opener edged to Liam Dawson at second slip.

Dutchy could've had Hashim Amla very first ball as he was struck on the inside of his back leg - the umpire judging Amla not out.

From thereon in, Ryan Patel and Amla played calmly, offering some aesthetic strokes, as the duo went to lunch with the score on 83-1.

Mohammad Abbas got things underway after the interval, but it was James Fuller who got the breakthrough with his second ball as Patel pulled a short ball straight to the former at deep square leg as he fell for a well-made 58.

In came Ollie Pope, averaging Bradman-esque figures at The Oval, and he soon ticked his home ground average to over 100 as he and Amla settled in for the afternoon, as they both reached half-centuries before tea.

Half an hour into the final session of the day, and it was Ian Holland who once again provided the respite for Hampshire.

Hashim Amla cut at a wide one and feathered the ball through to Ben Brown and he went for 73 allowing Ben Foakes to join his England teammate at the crease.

Pope continued from where he left off and knocked up a flawless century in front of a home crowd, as Surrey went to the close on 312-3 having been put in to bat.

Hampshire will rue a missed chance on Amla but they should be happy with their efforts in the field having bowled well on a pitch that wasn't offering a great amount of assistance.

Day Two

Hampshire began Day Two needing a strong start after an Ollie Pope hundred put them on the back foot after the opening day.

On the stroke of the first hour with Ben Foakes nearing his half-century, Kyle Abbott forced the wicket keeper into an error as he chopped onto his stumps for 45.

Keith Barker then joined in the action to remove Pope for 127 and Surrey were 354-5, and just five overs later, Jamie Smith also became the undoing of Barker as he was LBW for 14.

Out came Will Jacks who played calmly at first but when Jordan Clark was bowled by a hooping in-ducker from Kyle Abbott, he started upping the ante.

Another couple of overs went, and Abbott had his third - Jamie Overton LBW for 5 - to bring up 500 First-Class wickets, and Surrey were falling away slightly at 412-8.

Jacks then started swinging as Kemar Roach was LBW to Barker for three, as he reached his fifty off 77 balls whilst James Taylor resisted the Hampshire attack from the non-striker's end.

Barker then picked up his fourth wicket as Jacks had no answer to an inswinging yorker and Surrey were 467 all out.

Joe Weatherley and Ian Holland came out looking to carry on from where they left off at Utilita Bowl, but it wasn't to be as the former couldn't get his bat down in time to keep out a yorker from Jordan Clark in the second over.

Nick Gubbins joined Holland at the crease and picked up the scoring rate, striking two boundaries off his first two balls.

His innings was pacey, albeit short as a diving Ben Foakes clung on to an outside edge induced by Jamie Overton.

In came James Vince but he too didn't stay long as Roach snuck the ball through bat and pad and the Captain had to go for a single.

Liam Dawson fell quickly too, bowled by an Overton outswinger, and Hampshire were 52-4 in the 11th over.

Ian Holland and Ben Brown set about rebuilding, but the former's patient innings came to an end on 23 when he was LBW to Clark with the score on 83-5.

Felix Organ joined Brown at the crease but a good bit of bowling by off-spinner Jacks removed the all-rounder for 12 as he was caught at short leg.

Brown carried on with Keith Barker and was nearing a maiden County Championship 50 for Hampshire before he fell agonisingly short on 49 when he was bowled looking to drive, and Jacks had his second.

All-rounders Barker and James Fuller saw out the day when play was suspended by bad light at quarter past six, with the score on 152-7, with a lot of work to be done for Hampshire over the next two days.

Day Three

Jamie Overton, bowling with pace and fire, took his first five-wicket haul for Surrey and then added three further second innings wickets as Hampshire were routed by an innings and 17 runs inside three days at the Kia Oval.

All-rounder Jordan Clark’s 4 for 55 completed his own fine match with the ball in Surrey’s first win of the LV= Insurance County Championship season, while 21-year old rookie seamer James Taylor also impressed with 3 for 56 as Hampshire slid to 227 all out second time around after being dismissed for 223 in their first innings and being asked to follow on.

Former Somerset fast bowler Overton, who joined Surrey late in the 2020 season, more than made up for the absence of West Indies Test quick Kemar Roach – who suffered a hamstring injury on day two – by grabbing the mantle of attack spearhead with match figures of 8 for 107.

Hampshire, who started the third day still 315 runs adrift at 152 for 7, kept their first innings alive for just over an hour before Overton finished it off with a dramatic burst of three wickets in four balls to claim 5 for 54.

Overton then added another 3 for 53 and although opener Joe Weatherley made a composed 87 and James Vince 57, Hampshire were dismissed with 15.2 day three overs remaining. Clark clean bowled both James Fuller, for 12, and Kyle Abbott, whose third-ball 0 was his second duck of the day, in the same over and soon afterwards wrapped things up by having last man Mohammad Abbas caught at second slip for 0. Ben Brown was left 30 not out.

Weatherley and Vince added exactly 100 for the third wicket but Overton parted them and then Taylor struck a significant blow by having Vince caught down the legside by keeper Ben Foakes seven balls before tea.

In the final session Overton, with his short ball a real weapon on an easy-paced surface, had Felix Organ acrobatically caught by Will Jacks at gully for 5 and Taylor quickly followed that by having Keith Barker leg-before for 5 as Hampshire’s last real resistance was broken.

For much of the day’s opening hour, though, it looked like being tough going for Surrey with Fuller being badly dropped on 15 by Ollie Pope at second slip off Clark in the day’s second full over. Fuller and Barker then played with great freedom to take their eighth wicket partnership, on 20 overnight, to 90 in just 17 overs before Overton produced his dramatic triple-strike.

Barker, who had hit Jacks’ off spin straight for successive sixes to complete his half-century in some style, initially drove Overton powerfully past mid off for four. But he was then undone by a vicious lifter which he could only edge through to Foakes as he tried to fend it off from in front of his face.

Overton’s first ball to Abbott, the new batsman, was an even nastier bouncer which the tailender did well to avoid. The next, the last ball of the over, was fended meekly to short leg as Abbott departed for a duck.

Fuller, who had also greeted Overton’s introduction by uppercutting and then off-driving him for boundaries, was yorked by the first ball of Overton’s next over. He had made 41 from 48 balls, with six fours, while Barker’s equally punchy 57 took him only 68 balls, with two sixes and nine fours.

Hampshire, in again, were 46 for 2 by lunch as Taylor had Ian Holland well held on 8 by Pope at second slip and Nick Gubbins (6) edged to Foakes a back foot defensive push at seamer Clark, who was operating around the wicket to the left-hander.

Weatherley, however, looked in good touch as he and Hampshire captain Vince frustrated Surrey’s bowlers, the pair also scoring at more than five runs an over. There was one top-edged pull at Clark, which looped away for two, but otherwise Weatherley was untroubled and it again took Overton to make an important breakthrough.

Overton first struck Weatherley under the chin with his first ball back and, after being square cut beautifully for four following a short delay for concussion protocols, the tall paceman made another ball lift steeply to take the shoulder of the bat and fly high for Foakes to pull off a spectacular leaping catch away to his right.

Weatherley’s fine two-hour effort had come from 96 balls, including a hooked six off Clark and nine fours, and Overton was soon celebrating once more when Liam Dawson, on 3, lifted a pull to long leg where Ryan Patel pulled off a good running catch.

Surrey earn 22 points from their win, with Hampshire’s two points a bitter disappointment for them after an innings victory against Somerset in last week’s championship opener.