Tom Lawes rules as Surrey stride towards Championship title No.21

The Micky Stewart Oval was not immune from the cluster of wickets afflicting this round of the County Championship. However day two's tally of 16 did at least speed us along to a conclusion of the season overall in a match of consequence.

It is probably worth starting at the end of Wednesday, when Yorkshire walked off 65 behind in their follow-on innings. In skittling the visitors out for 179, Surrey had established a first-innings lead of 154, even after they started the day flunking their own first effort for a respectable 333 that should have been more. Considering second-place Hampshire are 105 for four in pursuit of a target of 378 set by Kent, this has been one of the better days for Rory Burns' charges.

If Hampshire lose, then Surrey can claim Championship No. 21 with victory, given they arrived with an eight-point cushion. And should they do so without needing to worry about Friday's rain, it will be largely because of the work of 19-year-old Tom Lawes, who capped off a breakthrough summer with career-best figures of four for 31 in Yorkshire's first innings.

Accounting for three of the top four shows the value of his work, and the dismissal of Finlay Bean - swinging in, then seaming away to clip off stump from around the wicket - showcased real skill. Contrary to popular belief, they don't like to talk up their younglings around here, but as he set about chipping away at the rest, you realised plenty of others would do the talking for them.

It was one thing to excel during the Royal London Cup given the higher profile absentees, but standing out alongside an experienced bowling attack was noteworthy. Lawes had Hill and Kohler-Cadmore caught by Ben Foakes before a quality yorker did for Ben Coad, who was already backing away. There is more work to do tomorrow but, for now, Lawes' season average sits at 19.16 with 18 wickets. Expect the latter to sit below 20, while the other doesn't, by the time this match is over.

Surrey arrived in control of their own in-game destiny, especially with Jordan Clark and Jamie Overton still at the crease and both more than capable of combining for most of the 108 runs needed for all five batting points. Alas, within 21 deliveries, both they and Kemar Roach had departed for the addition of just seven runs.

Clark failed to add to his overnight 55 - bowled by Ben Mike - and Overton departed with the nine he brought with him from Tuesday. Hill, having trapped Overton in front, then bowled Roach for his eventual two for 46, which left Surrey 299 for nine. What followed was an engaging last-wicket dart from that man Lawes and Dan Worrall, the kind that starts off as a bit of fun before morphing into something really quite serious.

It had surpassed humour by 80 overs, certainly from Yorkshire's perspective. The pair had managed five boundaries between them, including a six when Worrall leant back and smoked Steven Patterson (four for 69) over wide long-off. With that, Jonny Tattersall called for the new ball and Coad from the Pavilion End with a view to ending this nonsense. And though Worrall would follow up with a gorgeous flick over square leg for six and and a smear through midwicket, bringing hope of 350 and a fourth batting point, a third hoick to the leg side nestled into the hands of Mike running in from the fence.

That final stand of 34 went some way to reminding the visitors of some of Tuesday's struggle, and it was brought back to the forefront of their minds when experienced opener Adam Lyth was squared up by Roach to skew a shoulder-height catch to Ryan Patel at third slip.

It was somewhat remarkable that Lyth was the only wicket to fall in the opening spell between Roach and Worrall, particularly given how much movement the latter was getting from the Vauxhall End. He did managed to snare Will Fraine in his second spell to make it 67 for three, caught by Ollie Pope at second slip having had a chance dropped by Patel two balls before. All the while Lawes was getting into his work with great skill and a helping hand from Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who had looked dangerous for his boundary-filled 55 - 10 to the fence, including a six - before an ugly hack across the line that might explain why this was only his third score above fifty in eight innings this season.

Clark's brace accounted for the sting in the tail, bowling Dom Bess and nicking off the left-handed Jordan Thompson from around the wicket, before a bonus for part-time leg spinner Cameron Steel who bowled Mike with very much a full-time googly. And rounding off the first 10 Yorkshire wickets was Jamie Overton snaring Patterson at second slip (Pope) for a first wicket since a foot injury interrupted his season on July 25.

Overton's second would be Surrey's final of the day: extra lift from that extra pace forcing Hill to fend when he initially planned on defending, for Pope's third catch of the day. And with that, Hill got an early look about how little this game cares about you. Twice he showcased pluck and judgement, first for 28 stretched out over an hour and now a sharp 35 from 68 deliveries that probably ensured Surrey will have to bat again to win this.

Worrall had the first of the second innings, finding prestigious movement from around the wicket to bowl the left-handed Bean between bat and pad from around the wicket. Otherwise, it was a relatively comfortable end to a chaotic day for Yorkshire, and no doubt Surrey's quicks will be better for a night's rest ahead of what should be one final push on day three.