Pothas defied Surrey for 278 minutes but fell short of a century

Surrey dealt Hampshire's title hopes a serious blow as they won by an innings and 37 runs at the Rose Bowl.

But they had to wait until the final session to do it as Nic Pothas and David Griffiths battled away for 43 overs to try to salvage a draw.

They added 99 for the ninth wicket but were finally separated when Pothas was adjudged lbw to Matt Nicholson for 92.

And Hampshire were finally all out for 297, with Griffiths unbeaten on 30, as last man James Bruce fell for a duck.

Bruce was leg-spinner Schofield's eighth victim of the match, but the main bowling honours in Hampshire's second innings went to Harbhajan Singh, who took 4-71.

The 22 points earned by Surrey lifted them above Kent and out of the relegation places, whilst at the same time ensuring that Worcestershire will play in Division Two next summer.

"The history of the game tells you that when you get a side down like that there is little chance they are going to hang on.

"We just kept believing it was going to happen - and eventually it did," Surrey skipper Mark Butcher said afterwards.

Resuming on 121-3, Hampshire immediately lost first innings centurion James Adams, who was bowled off the inside edge by Nicholson's second delivery of the morning.

Harbhajan picked up Michael Lumb's wicket, lbw pushing forward for 20, and Schofield turned the screw even further when the umpire upheld his leg-before appeal after Sean Ervine (10) missed an attempted sweep.

Shaun Udal was next to go, taken at slip for a duck in Schofield's next over, and West Indian Daren Powell was caught for 25 as he tried to drive a ball from Harbhajan, leaving Hampshire on 198-8.

But Pothas, acting as captain in the absence of injured Shane Warne, refused to budge and found an unexpected ally in Griffiths, whose previous best score in his brief first-class career was 16.

The two Surrey spinners wheeled away in tandem but could not find a way through and it looked like Pothas was on his way to his second Championship century of the season when Nicholson returned to make the crucial breakthrough.

Pothas was clearly unhappy and manager Paul Terry later described it as a "poor decision" by umpire Mike Harris.

Bruce's innings only lasted four balls and Hampshire now have plenty of work to do, as they remain in fifth place, 23 points adrift of leaders Yorkshire, but with a game in hand.