Blake, Surrey's unlikely hero, seizes his chance to shine

Availability crisis allows squad member to fell Yorkshire in one-wicket epic

Surrey 83 (White 3-14, Coad 3-22) and 187 for 9 (Blake 43*, Fisher 33, Hill 4-52, Coad 3-72) beat Yorkshire 185 (Wharton 45, Lawes 4-36, Worrall 3-40) and 82 (Fisher 6-25) by one wicket

Surrey crept to a one-wicket win over Yorkshire in a low-scoring epic at The Oval to ease their fears of relegation. Last-man Dan Worrall flashed Ben Coad over the off side for the winning runs but Josh Blake, the unheralded left-hander, was their match-winner, grinding out an unbeaten 43 off 183 balls in only his seventh first-class game to drag them across the line.

Blake, who turns 28 this month, worked as a coach for the Surrey Cricket Foundation and the Chance to Shine charity before signing his first professional contract five seasons ago. He was only playing due to an availability crisis, with Dan Lawrence winning a Test recall and Sam Curran, Will Jacks and Ryan Patel all injured, but made Surrey's top score of the match.

Surrey made the highest total of the match to secure victory - only their second of the Championship season - after 23 wickets fell on a dramatic second day, all of them to seam. They looked down and out at 115 for 7 chasing 185, but Matt Fisher's 55-run stand with Blake took them close before he edged the outstanding George Hill to third slip.

After Blake guided Hill for four behind point, the Indian seamer Auqib Nabi hit a towering six over midwicket off Coad to leave Surrey with two runs to win, but he hoisted his next ball to mid-on, trying to hit Coad back over his head for the winning runs. Hill then bowled a maiden to Blake, beating his outside edge five times in a row, to leave Worrall facing Coad once more.

It left Surrey's captain, Rory Burns, covering his eyes in horror on the dressing-room balcony, but Worrall - who has borrowed his team-mates' bats since his sponsorship deal ended three seasons ago, and used one of Jamie Smith's on Friday - calmly punched Coad to mid-off in defence before slashing an outswinger over point for four to seal a nerve-shredding, one-wicket win.

Fisher revealed on the first evening that he had started to fear relegation and defeat would have left Surrey in real trouble with three games to go, but they have now leapfrogged Yorkshire and sit mid-table. "We can still win it," declared Gareth Batty, their relieved head coach, though they would need plenty to fall their way.

Surrey may yet face scrutiny about the state of the Oval pitch after 23 wickets fell on the second day, but Batty's view was that a 'below average' rating from match referee Phil Whitticase would be harsh. "If the highest score of the game is the last innings, I would suggest it's a brave person that [punishes] you for that when there was no intent," he said.

Blake was visibly exhausted after batting for four-and-a-half hours, and said that he had grown up dreaming of playing for Surrey. He played for the club's age groups with Smith and Jacks, but was let go aged 15, and did not earn a contract until he was 23 after scoring runs consistently for Sutton CC and Surrey's second XI.

"The heart's still going a little bit," Blake said after walking off to a standing ovation from a crowd approaching 3,000 people, which included parents, brother and housemate. "I've been here for a little while now and watched the group do so well. It's been great to be a part of it, but it's lovely to be out there… Dad's up there [in the Bedser Stand] with a beaming smile."

Blake had only played once in the Championship this season until he was called on as an injury replacement during Surrey's recent defeat to Nottinghamshire, when Patel broke his finger. He was promoted to No. 3 against Essex last week, but batted at No. 4 in this run chase after Surrey's decision to send in Rahul Chahar as a pinch-hitter backfired, ending in a five-ball duck.

They looked doomed at lunch, 81 for 5 with their four Test batters all dismissed. The metronomic Jack White trapped Dom Sibley lbw, Burns edged Hill to slip, Pope was pinned lbw by Coad after hitting two-sixes in an 18-ball 12, and Ben Foakes had his off stump uprooted by Coad's perfect outswinger. Blake was 13 off 51, looking only to survive.

Hill, who is Yorkshire's top run-scorer and leading wicket-taker this season, took an outrageous, one-handed caught-and-bowled to remove Adam Thomas, then had Tom Lawes well held by Will Luxton at third slip to leave Surrey seven down. But Fisher, who ran through Yorkshire with 6 for 25 on day two, came out swinging, and flashed three handy boundaries.

Surrey were surprised that Jonny Bairstow, Yorkshire's captain, did not throw the ball to Kuldeep Yadav, who did not bowl a single over on Championship debut. His three relentless seamers were eventually rewarded with Fisher's wicket, but there was no way through Blake. "It was like Atherton and Russell back in Johannesburg, wasn't it?" Batty said.

Blake, who is out of contract at the end of this season, declined to comment on his future at the club and could yet leave in search of more regular first-team cricket elsewhere. If so, this match-winning innings was a remarkable farewell gift to the club for whom he grew up dreaming about playing.