LV COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO, The Oval:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY TWO: Gloucestershire 229 and 139-7 Surrey 178
Surrey 3pts, Glos 4pts
Match scorecard

Meaker has been capped by England's U-19 side

Gloucestershire battled to a 190-run lead against Surrey as 16 wickets fell on day two at The Oval.

Arun Harinath scored the only half-century of the match so far but could not halt Surrey's collapse from 56-1 at start of play to 178 all out.

But Gloucestershire's hopes of building a decisive lead faltered as Stuart Meaker (4-29) posted the best figures of his ten-match first-class career.

They closed the day on 139-7 with James Franklin unbeaten on 39.

Harinath built a 43-wicket partnership with Mark Ramprakash before the former Middlesex man lost his middle stump to Jon Lewis.

From then on wickets fell regularly as Lewis (3-46) and Steve Kirby (3-42) led Gloucestershire's attack.

Surrey's unhappy morning was completed when Iftikhar Anjum was run out going for a third in the over before lunch.

Jade Dernbach and Steven Davies offered some badly-needed resistance with a partnership of 37 for the last wicket.

Gloucestershire's prospects of running away with the game looked good as Chris Dent and Jonathan Batty extended their lead by another 37 runs.

But then Surrey's seamers found their rhythm - Meaker trapping Dent leg before and Dernback having Hamish Marshall caught behind off a lifting delivery.

A destructive spell of three wickets for two runs in 14 balls by Meaker increased Surrey's momentum and kept alive their hopes of securing only a second championship win in three years.

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