Surrey 369 Worcs 217 & 307-5 (Match drawn): Jaques offers Worcestershire hope

There have not been many glimpses of sunshine through the clouds that have hung over Worcestershire County Cricket Club in recent weeks, butthe application they showed in saving this match must encourage Division One's bottom team in the belief that relegation is not aforegone conclusion.

A superb century from Phil Jaques, his second of the season, was the cornerstone of their effort. At times it seemed as though the battle was an individual one between the Australian opener and Harbhajan Singh, who having taken four wickets in 29 overs in Worcestershire's first innings bowled another 36 in the second, taking 5 for 64 before leaving the field half an hour after tea.

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The man known as "The Turbanator" found bounce and some notable turn, mainly out of the rough left outside the right-hander's off-stump by the follow-through of Worcestershire's Australian left-arm seamer Doug Bollinger.

Jaques being left-handed, Harbhajan had to bowl a straighter line but he was still getting plenty of bite, and both Jaques and his fellow opener Stephen Moore had to be at their best to keep him out as he bowled unchanged from the Railway End of the ground throughout the morning session. Moore, a right-hander, was the more aggressive of the pair, and was not afraid to hit the ball in the air. For the most part he connected cleanly, the cover drive which took him to 50 being a good example, and having played so well he must have been bitterly disappointed to hit Harbhajan straight to deep mid-on soon afterwards.

Vikram Solanki did not last long, edging Harbhajan to slip soon after being dropped by Mark Ramprakash off Neil Saker. Rikki Clarke was the catcher, hanging on to a sharp chance at the third attempt, but that was as good as it got for Surrey before lunch, as Jaques was joined by Smith for a stand which was to all but make the game safe. That it was extended to 112 was down partly to Harbhajan taking a breather after the break, during which time Worcestershire added more than 60 runs in 14 overs. When Harbhajan returned he got Smith to a dubious bat-pad, and Graeme Hick to a simple catch to slip soon afterwards, but Jaques slapped him over cover to go to his century off 218 balls. Two balls later Harbhajan finally got his man caught behind, but by then Jaques, who returns to Australia on 18 August to prepare for his country's A tour of Pakistan, had done his job. Gareth Batty and Steve Davies took the score past 300.