A gritty century from Michael Lumb may not be enough for Yorkshire as Surrey neared a sixth Championship win of the season at Guildford.

Lumb's 124 highlighted an improved batting performance by the winless defending champions that saw them put on 446 in their second innings.

Set the tricky target of 237 to win, Surrey were not flawless in reaching 110 for three but opener Ian Ward proved immovable in making 67 not out.

Resuming play on 254 for three, Yorkshire received an early setback when captain Darren Lehmann (61) was trapped in front of his stumps by Ed Giddins, who returned four for 113.

Surrey skipper Adam Hollioake then ended a 68-run stand for the fifth wicket when having Gary Fellows caught behind for 33.

Lumb was not long in reaching triple figures, but James Ormond stepped in to prevent it becoming a huge score when having the batsman caught by Saqlain Mushtaq.

The tail failed to wag much, but an obstinate 50 from wicketkeeper Richard Blakey helped push Surrey's victory target past 200.

Surrey's promising opening stand was stopped on 52 when Ryan Sidebottom bowled Jonathan Batty for 16.

Yorkshire hit back late in the day with the wickets of Mark Ramprakash and Nadeem Shahid in quick succession.

But though those strikes will give Yorkshire hopes of an unlikely win, Surrey will be firm favourites to cement their position at the top of Division One with victory on Saturday.

Surrey: AJ Hollioake (capt), IJ Ward, JN Batty (wkt), MR Ramprakash, R Clarke, AD Brown, Saqlain Mushtaq, IDK Salisbury, J Ormond, ESH Giddins.

Yorkshire: DS Lehmann (capt), MJ Wood, A McGrath, MJ Lumb, VJ Craven, GM Fellows, RJ Blakey, RKJ Dawson, CEW Silverwood, AKD Gray, RJ Sidebottom, DH Wigley.