Saqlain Mushtaq’s tenth 10-wicket championship haul very nearly brought Surrey victory inside three days for a fourth time this summer. But, after seeing those above him in the order at sixes and sevens, Hampshire’s Dimitri Mascarenhas gave his colleagues a lesson in how to make runs against the home side’s world-class spin duo. Nevertheless, with two wickets remaining the visitors still need 83 runs just to make Surrey bat again when play resumes today.

Requiring 486 to avoid an innings defeat when they started out, Hampshire raced to fifty, whereupon Neil Johnson was trapped leg before on the back foot by Saqlain Mushtaq, whom Adam Hollioake had introduced immediately after lunch.

Jason Laney made his second highest score of the summer before he was defeated by Jimmy Ormond’s occasional off-spin. For a while it looked as if he would be the visitors’ most productive batsman second time around.

Kendall and Smith added a pedestrian 55 for the third wicket before Robin Smith and John Francis were snapped up at forward short leg off successive Saqlain deliveries. The catch to dispose of Francis - which involved Nadeem Shahid diving full length in front of the batsman - was out of the top draw.

Once again Will Kendall looked far from fluent. His only six came as a result of four overthrows and four overs later he too was caught by the ever-alert Shahid who, with twenty catches in nine appearances this season, has made fielding close to the bat an art form.

Lawrence Prittipaul took his batting average for the summer to 3.25 before becoming Mushtaq’s fourth victim in 19 deliveries, and his tenth in the match, when he played back and across to the Pakistani off-spinner.

Saqlain took his match aggregate to eleven for 174 when Pothas was taken by surprise by a ball that sped on to him. Nic Pothas and Dimitri Mascarenhas made 41 in 32 minutes and had played as well as any of the Hampshire batsmen. Undaunted, therefore, Mascarenhas moved to his highest championship score of the season when he reached his half-century in 69 deliveries.

Ian Salisbury, who conceded forty runs off his first 16 overs, then went for 48 off his next eight as the wiry all-rounder struck an unbeaten 75 off 95 balls. Salisbury was occasionally guilty of dropping short, which allowed Mascarenhas to rock back and cut him through the off side. Then, in the 67th over, when the leg-spinner over-compensated, he was launched for successive straight sixes by the 24-year-old.

In an effort to finish the game early the home side claimed the extra half hour, but bad light, followed by light showers, prevented no more than four additional overs.

Earlier in the day Surrey had added 166 runs to their overnight score at more than six an over. Batty reached his fifty in 110 deliveries before Alistair Brown was out to a well-judged catch at deepish mid-wicket. Ian Salisbury was out to a similar over-the-head effort by Laney at cover, though not before both he and Martin Bicknell had taken advantage of some lacklustre bowling. Saqlain Mushtaq and Jonathan Batty fell in the same over, Batty for his sixth score out of seven in double figures, which gave their seamers seven overs at the Hampshire openers prior to lunch.

Shaun Udal, who finished with four for 213, was just thirteen short of conceding the most runs in a single innings against Surrey. A bit like when in the mid-1950s batsmen retired prematurely because they felt they were no longer of use if they couldn’t see a ball from Frank Tyson, Udal must have had much to reflect upon. Even allowing for the quality of Surrey’s batting line-up, he could only watch as Saqlain Mushtaq claimed six more wickets in 25 overs from the same end.

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