Stuart Meaker, a 20-year-old fast-medium bowler playing in only his sixth championship match, made Kent sweat under a burning sun at the St. Lawrence Ground before they wrapped up their seventh victory of the season to move 28 points clear of Essex at the top of the second division.
It appeared straightforward enough for Kent when Surrey resumed at 148 for five, only 54 runs ahead with, effectively, four wickets left because Mark Ramprakash could not bat after breaking his thumb, but Meaker’s heroics with bat and ball kept the crowd on tenterhooks for most of the day.
First, Meaker, seven overnight, defied Kent for 58 overs, hitting an unbeaten 64 off 200 balls with eight fours, and, with the gallant support of Chris Schofield, Jade Dernbach, Tim Linley and Pedro Collins, conjured another 145 runs from the tail to leave them needing 200 to win in 38 overs.
Then, when Rob Key and Sam Northeast looked like making short work of the task with an opening partnership of 90 in 15 overs, Meaker got rid of them both in the space of four balls. He had Northeast caught at mid-wicket and Key, who had just reached 50 off 51 balls with a straight six off Schofield, leg-before.
Surrey picked up a third wicket when Martin van Jaarsveld was caught off bat and pad at short fine leg trying to sweep Matthew Spriegel but Geraint Jones, who is in the form of his life with the bat, and Darren Stevens calmed Kent’s nerves by putting on 55 in nine overs.
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Jones, who passed 1,000 runs in a season for the first time, made 45 at a run a ball before he was stumped off Usman Afzaal and Stevens was unbeaten on 35 when Kent cruised home with three overs to spare.
It had been a brave effort by Meaker, who was born in South Africa but came to England as a boy and was educated at Cranleigh School, to make a game of it but, in truth, Surrey do not look like a team worthy of their great tradition.
They are in a transitional stage with Chris Adams, the new cricket manager, moving some players out and bringing others in and now they face a battle to avoid the wooden spoon without the services of Ramprakash.
For the record, he has finished his season with 1,350 runs, including five centuries, at an average of 90. Not bad for a batsman who is not considered to be up to playing for England.
Surrey: First Innings 423 (J N Batty 96, M J Brown 88; A Khan 5 for 113)
Second Innings (overnight 148-5)
C P Schofield b Khan 36
S C Meaker not out 64
J W Dernbach c Stevens b Kemp 16
T E Linley c Tredwell b Khan 36
P T Collins c Key b Khan 12
M R Ramprakash abs 0
Extras (b 6, lb 21, w 3, nb 12) 42
Total (101.5 overs) 293
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-38, 3-55, 4-57, 5-135, 6-163, 7-208, 8-275, 9-293.
Bowling: Cook 19-5-62-0; Khan 17.5-5-49-3; Edwards 14-2-52-2; Tredwell 35-10-72-3; van Jaarsveld 6-1-11-0; Kemp 10-4-20-1.
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Kent: First Innings 517 (G O Jones 156, D I Stevens 112, J M Kemp 92)
Second Innings
S A Northeast c Walters b Meaker 28
*R W T Key lbw b Meaker 50
†G O Jones st Batty b Afzaal 45
M van Jaarsveld c Collins b Spriegel 19
D I Stevens not out 35
J M Kemp not out 9
Extras (lb 2, w 6, nb 6) 14
Total (4 wkts, 35 overs) 200
Fall of wickets: 1-90, 2-91, 3-130, 4-185.
Bowling: Dernbach 9-0-35-0; Collins 3-0-16-0; Linley 7-0-43-0; Meaker 4-0-29-2; Schofield 5-0-39-0; Spriegel 5-0-22-1; Afzaal 2-0-14-1.
Umpires: G Sharp and P Willey.