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As he soaks up that winning feeling, the Vidarbha captain talks about how he always knew his team could go the distance this season. Coach Pandit, meanwhile, is happy to script an inspiring-underdog story

Vishal Dikshit in Indore01-Jan-2018Captain Faiz Fazal believes Vidarbha’s first match of the season, which they won against Punjab by an innings and 117 runs, “set the tone” for their victorious Ranji Trophy campaign. Vidarbha lifted the prestigious domestic trophy for the first time in their 61st attempt by beating Delhi comprehensively in Indore on the first day of 2018. Overall, Vidarbha registered an impressive seven wins in nine matches and only drew against Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.”The way we played the first game against Punjab – they are a great side and we got seven points from that game,” Fazal said after winning the Ranji Trophy. “That set the tone and we started believing that definitely we can win this trophy.”I cannot describe this feeling. This is what we work for. As a cricketer, you always think winning the Ranji Trophy will be the biggest thing. If you want to achieve anything, you have to go through the process and discipline and everything. Winning the Ranji Trophy has been the biggest achievement in my career. Playing for India was a big high for me, as an individual you get to achieve that.”Vidarbha dominated the Ranji final right from the first day when debutant Aditya Thakare struck in the first over of the match. They wrapped up Delhi on the next morning for 295 and even though Vidarbha were briefly in trouble at 246 for 6 in their first innings, they took a hefty lead. Fazal was confident at the end of the third day that he would get to lift the trophy before long.”To be very honest, yesterday, when the day finished, I thought that [we were going to win]. I know we were talking about how we shouldn’t lose our grip and everything, but I thought that we are going to win this game.”Vidarbha had a new coach this season – Chandrakant Pandit – who has a reputation of being a disciplinarian and a strict mentor. Throughout the final day too, when Vidarbha inched closer to the win, he barely displayed his emotions while sitting outside the dressing room and intently watching each and every delivery. Finally, victory sealed, the coach said the players had earned the right to let loose and celebrate.”They deserve to celebrate, that [victory] is what they were waiting for,” Pandit said. “I am sure my team and my captain must be very excited to celebrate and they should. There is no restriction, today you are not going to restrict them from anything. They can do whatever they want for they have been working hard throughout the season.”I must thank the selection committee, they also contributed so much during our journey. And each and every person who has been working… I would like to especially thank the ground staff. The way they have been preparing pitches, given us nets every time we asked for it. They also deserve to be celebrating.”We have been following our routines, which is the best part that the team has been doing. All credit goes to the players because they have put in a lot of hard work. I am also happy with the way they have respected me. The system which we have been following, they have never ignored that. The team is together, they started enjoying each other’s performances. We stayed together all the time. We had certain kind of activities within the team [for] bonding. So the boys have done a fantastic job.”A day before the final, Fazal had clearly stated he was confident of winning the match because of the kind of wave his team was riding by winning the quarter-final and semi-final. Fazal had even said he was itching to “get the feel of trophy in my hands”.When he was asked after lifting the trophy on Monday when he had first thought they would win the tournament, he took everyone a few months back. “From day one,” he said. “I never thought that we can’t lift this trophy. I was in England before the season so when I came to Nagpur and when I met Chandu sir, first thing we discussed was how to win the trophy and then the process started for me. The team was already preparing for it but then I joined in the act and from day one of the preparation I thought that we should lift the trophy.”Pandit said his team of underdogs winning such a title will motivate teenagers to play for their state and will instil belief in them. “Everybody likes to win the cup,” he said, “but this win will not only change the team, but in Vidarbha, every 14-year-old and 16-year-old boy will probably stand up and raise his hand that he can also win. That kind of culture I will be happy to achieve in Vidarbha.”

Tottenham Hotspur continued their unbeaten start to the new Premier League season with a rampant, 5-2 victory away to newly-promoted Burnley on Saturday afternoon, with Ange Postecoglou's side surging to second in the table following a third successive win in the top-flight.

Just a few days on from their early Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Fulham, the Lilywhites were dealt a further blow after conceding inside four minutes following Lyle Foster's early strike, albeit with a clinical comeback – including a stunning hat-trick for new skipper Heung-min Son – helping to power the visitors to a deserved three points at Turf Moor.

Who impressed for Tottenham against Burnley?

It had looked to be an uncomfortable afternoon for the north London outfit amid their early setback, although the aforementioned Son took charge to help steer his side to victory, with the South Korean sensation notably producing a delightful dinked finish over the onrushing James Trafford to draw the away side level on the 16-minute mark.

Having failed to score or register an assist in the league this season prior to the trip to Lancashire, the 31-year-old certainly made up for lost time after producing two more ruthless finishes after the break, with the decision to deploy the experienced ace in a number nine role having certainly paid off for Postecoglou.

It is fair to say that Son wasn't alone in sparking that brutal rout for the visitors, however, with summer signing James Maddison – who was dubbed a "joy to watch" by The Athletic's Tim Spiers – pulling the strings effortlessly in the centre of the park, while getting in on the act himself with a curling finish from range.

That stellar strike epitomised a performance of sheer class from the Englishman as he also registered one key pass and completed three of his four attempted dribbles, proving a real thorn in the side of Vincent Kompany's men, while defender Cristian Romero also got in on the act with a sensational finish on the stroke of half-time.

Aside from those who got themselves on the scoresheet, one man who also proved just why he is "sickeningly good" – in the words of footballJOE's Hunter Godson – was promising full-back, Destiny Udogie, with the young Italian simply shining down the left flank.

How did Udogie perform against Burnley?

Signed from Udinese on an initial £15m deal last year, before instantly returning to the Serie A side on loan, the 20-year-old had been something of an unknown quantity to most when he arrived back at N17 over the summer, although both fans and pundits alike are now seemingly fully aware of his talents.

A player who could well get "into nearly every team in the world already" – in the words of Godson – the Verona native notably helped to tee up Maddison with an assist after winning back possession high up the pitch, showing great composure to pick out the former Leicester City man who seemingly had the freedom of Turf Moor in the centre of the park.

That was also evidence of the youngster's battling nature and determination to reclaim the ball for his side as he won eight of his nine ground duels on the day, while also making five tackles, three clearances and two interceptions as a marker of his ability to sniff out the danger.

As his assist also illustrated, the exciting left-back has that much-needed composure to boot when he himself gets on the ball, having enjoyed a standout pass accuracy rate of 93% from his 66 touches, with his match rating of 7.8, as per Sofascore, behind only that of Son, Maddison and Manor Solomon among his starting teammates.

Of course, it is still early days in Udogie's time in England and in Tottenham's season, although it will be hard for Spurs supporters to not get carried away about the quality that they have seen so far under the new regime.

Nayeem’s inclusion comes as a big surprise since he has played only four first-class matches and hasn’t been mentioned in any selection conversations in the last three months

Mohammad Isam26-Jan-2018Bangladesh have picked Under-19 offspinner Nayeem Hasan in the 14-man squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka. Seventeen-year old Nayeem is currently playing the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. His inclusion comes as a big surprise since Nayeem has played only four first-class matches and hasn’t been mentioned in any selection conversations in the last few months.Squad for first Test

Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mosaddek Hossain, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Kamrul Islam, Mehidy Hassan, Rubel Hossain, Nayeem Hasan.
IN: Nayeem Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Kamrul Islam
OUT: Subashis Roy, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Taskin Ahmed

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that Nayeem will be returning from New Zealand to join the Test squad.”Nayeem is a talented bowler and since we wanted an additional offspinner, we picked him,” Minhajul told ESPNcricinfo. “He is a good option. He is coming back from New Zealand since we lost to India today.”The squad sees other major changes too. Shakib Al Hasan returned as captain after he was rested for the South Africa Tests last year while Mosaddek Hossain and Kamrul Islam were also recalled. Mosaddek was recovering slowly from an eye condition but he scored a century in the Bangladesh Cricket League first-class competition last week.The selectors dropped Subashis Roy, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam and Taskin Ahmed. The three pace bowlers hardly made an impact in South Africa or in first-class matches recently. Soumya, too, hasn’t made many runs after being dropped from the ODI squad for poor form in South Africa.Sabbir has also been batting poorly in the ODIs and was guilty of throwing his wickets away in the Tests in South Africa.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been left very impressed by summer signing Kai Havertz with the Spaniard sharing how he is behind the scenes.

What happened to Kai Havertz?

The Germany international put pen to paper on a move to north London in the summer transfer window, coming as one of their quartet of marquee arrivals.

Alongside Havertz, Arsenal signed England international star Declan Rice for a club-record £105 million fee, while versatile defender Jurrien Timber and goalkeeper David Raya joined the aforementioned duo.

Over his opening three Premier League games, though, Havertz has arguably failed to impress on-lookers with zero goals or assists to his name.

This has led to criticism from some members of the English media, like ESPN pundit Craig Burley, who absolutely slammed the Havertz's performance against Fulham last weekend.

"There is nothing in this Kai Havertz performance or performances that suggest that this player is any different, not one iota from the player who was performing for Chelsea," said Burley (via Tribal Football).

"The only difference is he's wearing a red shirt.

"But at the moment, there's a £70m burning problem in Arteta's pocket, because, in my opinion, he's going to have to drop him. Arsenal are a better side without him in the team."

It hasn't exactly been the dream start for Havertz, especially going by comments like this from Burley, but Arteta has urged patience with the winger.

Indeed, Arsenal's head coach says the 24-year-old has shown his quality in training day in, day out – with the former Bayer Leverkusen star's work ethic particularly impressing.

“I’ll tell you what I feel about him, that I love him and I see his qualities every day in training," said Arteta (via talkSPORT).

"His work rate is excellent, a lot of the things he does at the front of the team is so good.

“The visual one, the one with the stats, is what is missing at the moment, to put the ball in the net and to arrive on those and have a different impact on the game, but for the rest, it’s there.

“It’s difficult to ask, especially our people in our stadium and our supporters, for more, but my feeling is, give him love and we will get the best out of him.”

How good is Kai Havertz?

The forward, while arguably failing to impress with Chelsea last season too, did in fact finish the 2022/2023 campaign as their top goalscorer in the English top flight.

Havertz, for Arsenal, has so far completed their third-highest rate of key passes per 90 in the final third – sitting just behind the likes of Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard in that regard (WhoScored).

His versatility as a potential false nine option, while also being able to play out wide, could be another particularly attractive trait for Arteta – and we believe he has plenty of time to come good.

Ahead of a long season, where Arsenal will be looking to compete with Man City for the title again, Havertz may well prove to be a very useful asset.

Shimron Hetmyer played the perfect partner, allowing UAE no respite once Gayle departed to complete a blistering century of his own

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2018After losing to Afghanistan and surviving a scare against UAE in the warm-ups, West Indies launched their World Cup Qualifiers proper in style, amassing 357 for 4 against UAE in Harare. Chris Gayle led the way with a six-laden assault, finishing with 123 off 91 balls, while Shimron Hetmyer struck a maiden ODI hundred in his third match. Gayle’s innings contained 11 sixes and seven fours.The carnage started when he smashed seamer Mohammed Naveed for three successive boundaries in the seventh over and followed it with two fours off offspinner Rohan Mustafa in the next over. In all, Gayle hit 35 runs off 25 balls from Mustafa, including three sixes. Evin Lewis added 31 in an 88-run opening stand before being pinned lbw by left-arm spinner Ahmed Raza in the 17th over.IDI/Getty ImagesGayle then combined with Hetmyer to wreck UAE’s bowling attack. They plundered 103 runs at a run-rate of just over nine to set their side up for a tall score. After bringing up his first fifty off 47 balls, Gayle vaulted to his second off only 32 balls. He then celebrated the milestone with a hat-trick of sixes against Mustafa.Soon after, legspinner Imran Haider had Gayle holing out, but Hetmyer continued to drive the innings. He hit 14 fours and four sixes before being dismissed in the 48th over. He was assisted by useful contributions from Shai Hope (35, before retiring hurt because of a sore knee) and captain Jason Holder (12 not out). West Indies, however, will be worried about Marlon Samuels’ form: he laboured to 15 off 34 balls. In the warm-up match against the same opposition, he had managed only 15 off 32 balls.Five out of six UAE bowlers conceded more than six runs an over. Naveed gave away 53 runs in nine overs but could not find a wicket.UAE did not go down without a fight in their reply. Rameez Shahzad scored a second ODI century, at over a run a ball, batting through after coming in in the 13th over. Shaiman Anwar hit a quick half-century, and another rapid cameo came down the order from Adnan Mufti. Still they hardly threatened the target, eventually falling 61 short of it. Jason Holder, meanwhile, picked up a second ODI five-for, taking five of the six wickets to fall in the chase.

Ben Stokes’s hopes of making his return to Test cricket in the first Test against New Zealand at Auckland next week have received a set-back

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2018Ben Stokes’s hopes of making his return to Test cricket in the first Test against New Zealand at Auckland next week have received a set-back after he was ruled out of England’s opening two-day warm-up match at Hamilton on Wednesday with a back injury.Although the injury is not thought to be serious, the fixture against a New Zealand XI would have been his first outing in long-form cricket since the West Indies Test series in September, after he was omitted from England’s Ashes plans in the wake of his arrest in Bristol later that month.It would also have been Stokes’s one opportunity for match practice with a pink ball, ahead of the day-night first Test which starts on March 22. If he recovers in time, he may yet be able to feature in the second of England’s two-day games, this time with a red ball, which follows on immediately on Friday.Stokes had been a noticeably low-key presence at England training in the past couple of days, as had Chris Woakes, who will also miss the pink-ball fixture, along with Craig Overton, another of England’s seam-bowling options.

Aston Villa are back in action this afternoon, as Unai Emery’s side look to put matters right after their defeat to Liverpool before the international break.

The Villans will welcome Crystal Palace to Villa Park in what is poised to be a thriller, with both teams showing a host of quality in their fixtures already this season.

The Midlands side have registered two wins and two losses, building some form after their embarrassing opening day thrashing at St James’ Park, as Newcastle United slayed Emery’s side 5-1.

After an encouraging summer in the transfer window, there has been an added influx of quality to the squad, with some new arrivals already showing their worth.

What is the latest Aston Villa team news?

Last time out at Anfield, Villa were shocked in the opening minutes, as Dominik Szoboszlai scored his first Liverpool goal after just three minutes.

Things went from bad to worse, and then worse again for Emery’s side, who lost Diego Carlos to injury in the 19th minute, to then concede their second moments later through a Matty Cash own goal.

There was worry over Carlos’ withdrawal following his lengthy time on the sidelines last season due to an achilles rupture, with the manager confirming that he will miss today’s game against Palace.

Placing the defence aside, after the attacking absence at Anfield, Emery could consider making changes to bring additional threat to the front line, with the Midlands side registering just 0.66 expected goals against Liverpool, via Sofascore.

Should Youri Tielemans start against Crystal Palace?

One player that could provide some added danger to the final third is Youri Tielemans, who was signed this summer on a free transfer from Leicester City.

The Belgian is a seasoned Premier League player with 155 appearances in the league already under his belt, however is yet to start for Villa this season.

During a press-conference while on duty with Belgium, the midfielder described the lack of game time as “not pleasant”, as relayed by Football 365, with him playing just 93 minutes over the four appearances he’s made so far.

Following the performance at Anfield, Emery may be inclined to shuffle his side to impose a better threat on Palace, with Tielemans being the ideal figure to generate chances.

Against the Reds, Villa failed to record a single big chance, which the Belgian could resolve with him creating ten big chances last season for Leicester, despite their relegation form.

Lauded as a “baller” by CBS journalist Aaron West for his pre-season form, the £150k-per-week gem could offer a lot to the squad at Villa Park, even more so with the motive of having a point to prove in order to receive more game time.

There’s a positive for Villa going forward, with Hodgson confirming that prized centre-back Marc Guehi will be out of contention due to injury, giving Emery more of an incentive to go full force on what will be a depleted back line for the visitors.

After going public about his disappointment in relation to his game time, the Belgian may be handed a chance to show his worth, which would be a strong point for Villa, with him recording an average of 1.15 key passes and 6.95 progressive passes last term for Leicester, via FBref.

The main priority for Villa will be to get back to winning ways, however giving their summer arrival a chance to flex his ability may be a positive route to claiming three points.

India lose eight wickets to spin; No. 9 batter Pooja Vastrakar offers lone resistance with maiden ODI half-century

Annesha Ghosh in Vadodara12-Mar-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGetty ImagesAustralia’s eight-wicket victory, with over 17 overs to spare, bore every mark of the intent they spoke about leading into the three-match series against India. Their spinners – Jess Jonassen and Amanda-Jade Welliington – led the charge to pick up seven wickets between them to dismantle India for 200. Debutant Nicola Carey, too, played a part in an economical 10-over spell that cost just 28. Then opener Nicole Bolton made an unbeaten century, her fourth in ODIs, to undo India’s lower-order fightback.Australia’s chase had an air of inevitability about it right from the start. After seeing off a maiden over first up from Shikha Pandey, Bolton leaned into cover drives, rocked back for square cuts, and swept her way to forging three half-century stands. Even as she took a while to assess the Reliance Stadium surface, where pace had been on the wane since the latter half of India’s innings, Bolton kept pinching singles through the seven-two off-side heavy field, while opening partner Alyssa Healy went on a rampage to make a 29-ball 38.In a manner similar to her WBBL blitzkriegs this season, Healy hammered the barrage of short balls from the opening pace duo of Pandey and Pooja Vastrakar, and also took on spinners Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Having hoisted Australia to 60 without loss in nine overs, Healy picked out Veda Krishnamurthy at point to hand Pandey her 50th ODI wicket.By then, Bolton had upped her strike rate and raced to 21 off 26, shaking off the scratchiness that had made her edge the first ball of the sixth over off Deepti marginally past Veda at first slip. Subsequently, she forged a 68-run stand with captain Meg Lanning, who brought up her 3000th ODI run upon her return to the batting crease since losing her offstump to Jhulan Goswami peach from the World Cup semi-final.Lanning’s fluency shone through right from the outset. Bolton, on her part, raced to her fifty off only 57 balls, but three deliveries later, had Lanning respond to her call and come a long way down the pitch only to send her captain back after tapping at a Pandey delivery. With Australia on 128 for 1, Lanning, on 33, met with a direct throw from Veda at cover-point and was caught short of her ground at the non-striker’s end.The dismissal, however, was to barely have a bearing on the outcome of the game. But Bolton enjoyed slices of luck. Reprieved on 65 when Rajeshwar Gayakwad put down a skier off Poonam Yadav at square leg, strung an unbeaten 74-run partnership with Ellyse Perry. In between, she also avoided dragging the legspinner on 72. Perry chipped in with a 26-ball 25, and hit the winning runs – a four of stand-in captain Harmanpreet Kaur – in the 33rd over, soon after Bolton got to her century off 101 balls.As dominant as Australia were with the bat, it was their bowlers that snotted the life out the Indian line-up. Mithali Raj’s unavailability because of fever meant 17-year old Jemimah Rodrigues was handed an ODI debut, which turned out to be forgettable for her. Among the top six, only Punam Rut managed to make some sort of impression to make 37.With the top order failing, the lower order stood up. Bowling allrounder Vastrakar partnered No. 7 wicketkeeper-batsman Sushma Verma to breathe animation into an tail that has time and again failed to wag under pressure. They added 76 for the eighth wicket, with Vastrakar bringing up her maiden half-century off the 55th ball of her innings.Batting only for the third time in international cricket, Vastrakar’s 56-ball 51 featured seven fours and a six that lent credence to her established pinch-hitting prowess in the domestic circuit. Having come in at No. 9, she capitalised on the two reprieves – dropped on 14 by Lanning at mid-off and on 19 by Perry at midwicket – and lofted left-arm spinner Jonassen over the covers, drove Schutt and Perry straight down the track, and launched Gardner for six over the mid-wicket fence with a slog sweep.That India could scramble to 200 after being reduced to 113 for 7 was down to Vastrakar’s freewheeling approach, coupled with Verma’s defiant 71-ball 41, that bettered her international top-score of 33 that came in a similar situation in the World Cup last year, against Pakistan. The pair’s 93-ball stand injected further sloppiness in the Australia fielding unit.Jonassen, who finished with 4 for 30, however, cleaned up the tail, running the last wicket – Poonam Yadav – out after having both Sushma and Vastrakar to hole out – the latter to Haynes as she failed to time an attempted lofted strike straight over the bowler’s head.

Newcastle United marked their return to life in the Champions League with a hard-fought point away to last season's semi-finalists, AC Milan on Tuesday evening, with Nick Pope proving something of a hero for the Magpies as they held off an onslaught from the Serie A side.

The former Burnley man – who was dubbed a 'tremendous presence' by The Chronicle's Lee Ryder – made eight saves to help keep the likes of Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao at bay, with such a standout showing helping to make up for the woes of some of those ahead of him in white and black.

January arrival Anthony Gordon, for instance, was among those to underwhelm at San Siro, with it perhaps time that manager Eddie Howe considers removing the £45m addition from his starting XI moving forward.

How did Anthony Gordon perform against Milan?

On the face of it, it was a typically industrious performance from the young Englishman as he looked to make his mark down the left flank, with 90min's Grey Whitebloom suggesting that the 21-year-old was 'threatening when he had space to sprint into' although 'those openings were limited'.

That being said, however, the former Everton man was unable to make the most of any rare opportunities when he did have the ball in the final third, despite recording a respectable haul of two key passes.

The £60k-per-week dud notably lost the ball on ten occasions from his 28 touches – ensuring he lost the ball once every 2.8 touches – while his measly total of ten passes was lower than even the aforementioned Pope achieved in the sticks (17), as per Sofascore.

Those 'wayward passes' – as noted by GOAL's Peter McVitie – were not helped by the fact that the wideman also struggled to help the Tynesiders defensively as he won just four of his 11 total duels, having also been dribbled past twice before being replaced on the hour mark.

With two failed dribble attempts also under his belt, it was seemingly just not his night against Stefano Pioli's side, with Gordon – and his teammates – likely to be breathing a real sigh of relief that they were able to walk away with a draw.

How has Anthony Gordon performed this season?

With summer signing Harvey Barnes – who scored 13 league goals for Leicester City last season – waiting in the wings, Howe would be wise to consider dropping Gordon to the bench for the trip to Sheffield United this weekend, following a bright, yet unspectacular start to the campaign for the Toffees academy graduate.

The England international does boast a tally of one goal and one assist from his six appearances this season, although, with just three goal contributions in total since arriving at St James' Park earlier this year, it is hard to argue that his acquisition has proven worth the investment as yet.

Even against Brentford at the weekend, despite winning the all-important penalty, Gordon's display was far from perfect as he lost possession 14 times, won just six of his 14 total duels and failed to register a single key pass, with Howe needing more from his attacking talents if a top-four berth is to be achieved again this time around.

It may appear harsh to ditch the Liverpool-born dynamo following a solid result against Milan, yet with Newcastle failing to truly kick into gear in an attacking sense of late, changes may need to be made sooner rather than later.

Virdi, a 19-year-old offspinner, claimed Hashim Amla and James Vince in one over as Surrey pressed for victory at The Oval

Paul Edwards at Kia Oval22-Apr-20182:57

Defending champions Essex off the mark

ScorecardOn the first day of this game few things looked as unlikely as a declaration. Yet at 2.51pm on the third afternoon Surrey skipper Rory Burns beckoned Matt Dunn back to the pavilion thereby setting Hampshire 472 to win in something like 140 overs. Burns’ decision was prompted by the dismissal of 20-year-old Ollie Pope, whose 145 might have been the spectators’ chief memory of this day had not Amar Virdi, an even younger Surrey cricketer, complemented his achievement.As Pope walked off the Oval outfield he was given a warm ovation and the applause punctuated the sirenned air. By the close, however, Surrey supporters were also acclaiming Virdi, a 19-year-old offspinner from Chiswick, who had trapped both Hashim Amla and James Vince leg before in his fourth over. Those wickets have done much to ensure the likelihood of a Surrey victory; Hampshire were 116 for 4 when bad light trimmed 9.1 overs off the day. Moreover, Virdi’s success was engagingly celebrated by a joyous bowler who plainly respected the stature of his victims. Instead of crude send-offs, there was boyish delight. Thank you.There was nothing terribly fortuitous about the spinner’s success: Virdi bowls with a brave loop, a high arm and he spins the ball. The delivery which dismissed Amla kept low but that which removed Vince turned appreciably. The significance of the wickets was increased by the fact that both Hampshire batsmen were playing well. Vince, as ever, had produced cover drives to placate his sternest angels; Amla was settling in for the long haul and had already hit Virdi over mid-on, albeit not by much. But the spinner trusted his gifts and his gifts did not betray him. His wickets completed a fine Sunday for Surrey supporters whose team contains seven Academy graduates.Yet as early as the first session one did not need to look very hard to see the beauties of this London morning and Surrey’s batsmen enjoyed themselves on a pitch whose venoms had been drawn by three warm days. No one relished the conditions more than Pope, who reached his second first-class century just before lunch with a cover drive off Chris Wood, a bowler he had earlier cut backward of square and straight-driven to the boundary.Had they desired, members sitting on the top tier of the Oval’s mighty pavilion could have considered the city’s many traps for tourists or the sleeping palaces of profit which lie just outside this most urban of grounds. But most preferred to watch Pope moving confidently onto the front foot as he took the measure of Hampshire’s attack. Before long the sight of him scoring hundreds for Surrey may become as familiar as the London Eye.Wickets fell but they became little more than the acceptable costs of Surrey’s acceleration. True, Ben Foakes will have wanted to begin his season a century but he was bowled for 81 by Fidel Edwards’ first delivery with the new ball, an outswinger reminiscent of this game’s first two days. Edwards was to dismiss both Rikki Clarke and Jade Dernbach in the afternoon session, the latter with a savage bouncer, but the lack of celebration with which this normally effervescent bowler greeted his wickets indicated their significance. The heart of the game was elsewhere and Edwards knew it.Pope ploughed on and his desire to do so will surely have been noted by the Surrey coaches. He scored his maiden first-class century against Hampshire last year but that was at the Ageas Bowl and he made only 100 not out. On his home ground and at the beginning of a season still in its pram, he was allowed to do something even more substantial and he grabbed the chance. He had hit 18 fours and a six when a top-edged sweep gave Rilee Rossouw a catch and Liam Dawson his second wicket of the innings.