Pope, Abbas and Gubbins combine to give Hampshire and Surrey early title showdown

We might only be in the second round of the County Championship, but Sunday at the Kia Oval already feels like a pivotal day for the Division One title.

Hampshire lead by 182, courtesy of an unbeaten 79 from Nick Gubbins that began as the sticking plaster in his side's second innings before morphing into the catalyst of what could be something quite special. Surrey are five wickets from knowing what it is they will have to chase for a first victory of the season.

Make no mistake - Surrey will chase it. Not because Baz and Ben say so, but because confrontational cricket is what this iteration of the county is all about. It is why they have no qualms telling you they are looking to go back-to-back in 2023. What better way to send that message than turning over a challenger in a thriller?

And it really has been a thriller. Even with half of day two lost to rain, day three underlined the quality of these two outright. Whether it was Ollie Pope cursing the heavens after he was dismissed on 91, or Mohammad Abbas sending thanks that way via his Sujud upon finishing with 6 for 64, decorated cricketers, young and old, have fumbled and found individual milestones of their own since Thursday. All will be equal come day four with all results in play.

Gubbins' seamless drifting between attack and defence was best characterised by a cut for four, late in both execution and on the clock. A ninth boundary ran away well behind point at 6:09pm, before he and Ian Holland settled down for the final 20 minutes before stumps. Considering this second innings began 16 in arrears, it was a valuable position to protect.

A patient half-century - from 132 balls - was Gubbin's second of the season, having finished unbeaten on 54 in last week's successful run chase against Nottinghamshire. This one already feels of greater value, especially if Hampshire can convert this into a second win of the season. Whether the left-hander himself converts to three figures feels like an aside, albeit a noteworthy one.

The knock was a neat bookend to a Saturday, which began with a similarly accomplished one from Surrey's own No.3. Pope resumed on 48, his team trailing by 101 on 153 for 4 in their first innings, shouldering both responsibility and expectancy.

You could type the bare facts into ChatGPT - an England batter; Pope's average just shy of 95 on this ground, the site of 10 of his 16 Surrey centuries; versus a team he had scored more runs against than any other - and be presented with pretty much exactly how things panned out.

Perhaps the one error would have been the prediction of his final score. Pope fell nine short of what seemed an inevitable hundred once he had passed fifty. He took 19 deliveries to pass that first milestone before midday, then scored with typical abandon, as if he was just another twenty-something strolling through south London on Saturday afternoon.

All five of Pope's day three boundaries came in the 29 deliveries it took him to move from 51 to 80, in which time Surrey's only loss was Jamie Smith, bowled through the gate by Kyle Abbott. Pope shifted down a gear when Cameron Steel chipped James Fuller to Fletcha Middleton at three-quarters midwicket, attempting a shot that earned him six in Fuller's previous over. Attempting to shift back up proved his undoing, failing to manufacture a late cut just outside off and chopping onto his stumps.

At that point, Surrey were 234 for 7, trailing by just 20. But a new ball was in play and in Abbas' hands, thus the end was always going to come quickly.

It was Abbas who snared Pope, a dismissal very much earned in a battle between the pair that, up until then, judges would have probably given to the youngster on a split decision. Now with only a tail to deal with, Tom Lawes was trapped in front with the very next ball and, though Kemar Roach survived the hat-trick, the West Indian was trapped in front in Abbas' following over for a sixth five-wicket haul for Hampshire, and 43rd overall.

The gloss of a sixth dismissal - already his second of the season after 6 for 49 against Nottinghamshire last week - was the nail in the coffin for Surrey's first innings. But the hosts were ahead by 16 thanks to some quite spectacular striking from Sean Abbott.

With just No.11 Dan Worrall for company, Abbott moved from 30 off 31 to a second half-century in as many matches in the space of just six deliveries, thanks to a brace of fours and sixes, starting with four-six-four against Keith Barker in the penultimate over. An attempt at a fourth boundary in the 85th over resulted breaking the toe of his bat, meaning the Australian began the 86th over with a replacement. It worked just as well, as Abbas was heaved over wide mid on for the biggest strike of the lot.

That lunch came immediately after Worrall was bowled did not take any enthusiasm out of Surrey's work with the ball. Hampshire openers Middleton and Felix Organ had ticked off the deficit before both were back in the changing room within the first 10 overs - Worrall taking Middleton's off stump for a walk, then coaxing Organ into a edge to first slip. The real sucker punch came when the far more experienced duo of James Vince and Liam Dawson replicated their first-innings dismissals within the next nine overs.

Vince, once again, twitched outside off stump to Abbott for a catch to first slip - this time off Abbott's second ball of the day rather than the first, as it was on Friday. Dawson was then squared up and robbed of his off stump by Lawes, leaving Hampshire four down and just 42 ahead.

Gubbins had 18 at that point and, with the arrival of Ben Brown, an ally for the long haul. Brown set about replicating the keynotes of his 95 in the first innings, not necessarily taking risks but scoring briskly enough to offset the rhythm of an established set of seamers.

The partnership between the pair had reached 61 - Brown with 32 - before we got our first sign of the pitch meeting bowlers more than halfway. Worrall hit a good length, as he usually does, only this time the bounce was not as Brown anticipated. Pad struck, finger up - suddenly Hampshire seemed to be approaching the verge.

The response of a stand stand of 79 (and counting) speaks to the depth of this visiting line-up. Holland's part in it - 25 from 76 and counting - was a throwback to a time not so long ago when he was considered a capable stop-gap as an opening batter.

With Barker and Fuller still to come, and Gubbins capable of stepping up his scoring rate, Hampshire are perhaps shading this. But not by much.