da aposte e ganhe： The Surrey and Essex faithful came to Croydon to watch England starKevin Pietersen bat, but left for home marvelling over Graham Napier’sastonishing display of pyrotechnics
Mark Pennell at Whitgift School19-May-2011ScorecardThe Surrey and Essex faithful came to Croydon to watch England starKevin Pietersen bat, but left for home marvelling over Graham Napier’sastonishing display of pyrotechnics.Free from the spinal stress fracture injury that has dogged him forover a year Napier, in his first County Championship game for 11months, clubbed a world record-equalling 16 sixes in a career-best 196for his part in mammoth Essex first innings of 548 all out.Having resumed on his overnight score of 25, the 31-year-old right-hander took three overs or so to play himself in before launching asavage assault on Surrey’s listless attack.Balls were disappearing over the ropes, out of the ground anddisappearing down the adjacent A235 Brighton Road with more frequencythan London buses heading into town. He twice took three sixes in anover against Gareth Batty, and in between times achieved the samefeat against Stuart Meaker.Though Tim Phillips and David Masters fell at the other end, Napiercharged on untroubled adding over a hundred runs to his overnight tallybefore lunch, the first batsman to do so against Surrey since AllanLamb for Northamptonshire at Wantage Road in 1989.In all, the visitors scored 172 in the session, but their fun did notstop there as Chris Wright held up one end for 90 minutes incontributing 34 to a ninth-wicket stand that added 190 in 22.2 overs.There were no nervous 90s for Napier. On 88 he drove Tim Linley to theropes through cover then, playing right back in his crease, launchedback foot forces over extra cover and long-off to move to an imperiouscentury from 102 balls with 15 fours and five sixes. It was his fourthfirst-class century and his first since July 2007.He might have gone for 118 when miscuing high to long on against Batty,but Chris Tremlett’s effort appeared half-hearted and the Englandpaceman only succeeding in spilling the chance for four.As if to celebrate the milestone and the let off Napier shifted gearafter lunch and moved into overdrive. Despite losing Wright to a runout by Mark Ramprakash, Napier switched to Twenty20 mode and his chargeproved nigh on relentless.He hit another four sixes and four fours to post his third 50 in just15 deliveries. Tired of replacing lost balls, umpire RichardKettleborough took to taking two at a time from the box of spares onceNapier truly got his eye in.It was Batty who suffered most; his 15, wicketless overs cost 112runs at an economy rate of 7.40 as he conceded seven of Napier’s 16sixes. A tally that took Napier level with the first-class world record forsixes in an innings set by Andrew Symonds, when playing as an’Englishman’ for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan at Abergavenny in1995.Having scored his last 103 runs from only 29 balls, Napier foundhimself four shy of a maiden double hundred which he clearly wanted toreach in a manner befitting of the innings. Aiming for the player’spavilion against Meaker he top-edged and wicketkeeper StevenDavies ran around toward gully to catch a skier and end the Essexinnings.To his credit, home skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown ran over to shakeNapier’s hand as the all-rounder walked off to a standing ovation.Requiring 399 merely to avoid the follow-on, Surrey made good progressthrough Hamilton-Brown and Tom Maynard, who was making his maidenappearance as an opener for Surrey.The former Millfield School chums, who boast a combined age of 45,added a trouble free 136 either side of tea for Surrey’s first centuryopening stand since August 2009Hamilton-Brown coasted to his fifth championship hundred from 123 ballswith his 20th sumptuous four, but Maynard nicked a good one fromMasters to go for 43 and Mark Ramprakash went for a 12-ball duck,bringing in Pietersen with 25 overs remaining.He should have gone with 18 against his name to the same bowler whenMark Pettini downed a comfortable overhead opportunity at mid-on, butwhen on to a 48-ball 50 before playing across one from Matt Walker to fall lbw for 58 shortly before stumps.