Nottinghamshire close in on title

Graeme Swann works behind square on his way to 82 as Notts dominated again

Nottinghamshire climbed to the top of the LV County Championship after pulverising Surrey by an innings and 143 runs.

Graeme Swann shone with both bat and ball, hitting an entertaining 82 this morning as Nottinghamshire finished their first innings on 532. The all-rounder then claimed three wickets to help dismiss Surrey for a paltry 122.

Were it not for Matthew Spriegel's accomplished 42 and some almighty heaves from Shoaib Akhtar then Surrey would have been embarrassed even further.

With Jonathan Batty sustaining a nasty finger injury keeping wicket on Thursday, which needed an operation, Nottinghamshire only needed nine wickets to register their fifth win of the season, a task they went about with relish.

Having beaten Chris Murtagh four times in the one over he bowled before lunch, it was no surprise when Shreck got his man, Chris Read gobbling up a regulation catch. For the 23-year-old batsman it meant an unwanted pair.

Darren Pattinson made it 12 for two but he will have reserved a special pat on the back for giant team-mate Will Jefferson who swooped low at second slip - quite a feat when you are 6ft 10ins - to snaffle Mark Ramprakash at the second attempt.

Dismiss Ramprakash, dismiss Surrey.

Scott Newman is yorked by Darren Pattinson for just 12 as Surrey are bowled out for a paltry 122

The next wicket was all Pattinson's work, a searing yorker which pegged back Scott Newman's middle stump. The send-off which followed was probably unnecessary.

Nottinghamshire twisted the knife further to leave Surrey 46 for four when Andre Adams made a mess of Usman Afzaal's stumps as the batsman drove loosely.

Lee Hodgson's half-century on the first day is one of few plus points for the home side but the all-rounder, making his County Championship debut, could not reproduce that form to spare Surrey's blushes. He appeared, however, a little unfortunate to be given out bat-pad off Graeme Swann, peeling himself away from the crease after the umpire's finger was raised.

Mark Ealham became the fifth Nottinghamshire bowler to take a wicket, clean bowling Stuart Meaker with an inswinger to leave Surrey 70 for six.

Murtaza Hussain was the next to go when he prodded Swann to silly-point where Jefferson took another excellent catch tumbling forward.

Watching the miserable tale unfold at the other end was 21-year old Matthew Spriegel, a lone sentry defending his outpost.

His innings was more than just stubborn resistance with a number of well-timed drives against the quicker bowlers suggesting Surrey possess a player with potential. His vigil ended just after tea, lbw for 42 attempting to sweep Swann.

Nottinghamshire celebrate after picking up yet another scalp en-route to victory at the Oval

Shoaib decided on a different approach to the more watchful Spriegel - swing hard. Surviving a dropped catch when on nought, he looked intent on clearing the vast pavilion when facing Swann's tempting off-breaks.

He gave it a pretty good go too, connecting with one swish that cleared Shreck at long-on.

In true death or glory style, he perished trying to smash Samit Patel into the River Thames only for Ashwell Prince to charge in from the boundary and take the winning catch.

Nottinghamshire resumed this morning on 420 for five, losing Pattinson and Read early on - the latter was well caught by Gary Wilson, Surrey's fourth wicketkeeper of the match - but it was one-way traffic for the rest of the day.

Swann, unbeaten on 30 overnight, looked set to become Nottinghamshire's third centurion as he tucked into the Surrey bowling.

The all-rounder timed the ball beautifully, particularly when driving the quicker bowlers, and he adopted a more unorthodox approach when facing the spinners. A well-timed reverse sweep off Hussain was one off 11 fours and he also managed one six.

But, with a ton seemingly there for the taking, he was bowled around his legs by Hussain for 82.

Ealham, who put on 72 with Swann, and Adams opened their shoulders in the search for quick runs before the latter top-edged an ungainly swipe off Meaker and was caught by Shoaib at fine leg.

Adams perished in similar fashion, aiming a huge hit towards Archbishop Tenisons School he picked out Hodgson who made up 15 yards before taking the catch. Meaker, in his first County Championship game, finished with 3-86.