Sangakkara, Sam Curran keep Surrey sweet

ESPNCricinfo: No one grumbles quite like a county cricket fan. Each individual has a slightly different tone shaped by their gender, experience and own personal angst. Some just sigh, a handful swear (loudly, too).

Most reserve the chuntering for wickets but the ones that really pay attention can spend 10 minutes chewing your ear off about a couple of plays and misses from a different game entirely.

Some do it among themselves, some to one another: at a ground like the Kia Oval, where the attendance is consistently good, you are never more than a row away from another fan. All it takes is a knowing look or a nod to begin conversation on a spinner introduced too late, a Curran bowling from the wrong end or another Gary Wilson 40. Here, on 49, Wilson edged Rory Kleinveldt to Rob Keogh at second slip. There were grumbles, but most of them were from Wilson.

Two overs later, when Tom Curran was squared up by the same bowler and lost his off bail - Northamptonshire’s sub fielder Saif Zaib found it about 20 yards in from the fine leg boundary - the groans in the OCS stand were audible. At that point, Surrey were 47 runs shy of full batting points - a must, really, as they search for the points-heavy result that would see them promoted as Division Two champions. There were plenty of overs to go before the 110-over cut-off but just two wickets left.

But as Surrey walked off for bad light, with 22 needed and 20 overs left - and those two wickets still in hand - spectators rose, shook hands with one another and promised to do it all again on Thursday. Because this season, Surrey fans have not had much reason to grumble. And it’s on days like these that you understand how lucky they have been.

Just as they were about to forget that, when both Arun Harinath and Rory Burns fell to Maurice Chambers - both misreading the bounce to top-edge to the keeper and flick to fine leg, respectively - Kumar Sangakkara began his latest piece. For a good few hours, all you could hear were purrs.

As he got going, Northants wilted. But there’s a small nugget in your brain that convinces yourself that maybe they were happy to be there, too, as Sangakkara took the scenic route to his fifth Championship hundred of the season. For those present, it was an incarnation of the dream scenario in which your favourite musician is in your front room, taking your requests and happy to oblige as you ask for the fifth rendition of ‘Tiny Dancer’. And out it comes, with just as much soul as was dished out at Central Park in 1980. He showcased all the classics - the driving against the seamers, that skip and whip to midwicket against the spinners, the straight-bat cut to both. At the lunch intermission, brought about by the wicket of Ben Foakes, he was 22 off 44 balls. Back out for the afternoon session, having been presented his county cap, he began once more, this time at a higher tempo, picking off boundaries at will. A luscious six over straight back over the head of Keogh - whose offspin had caused Sangakkara the most discomfort early on - took the Sri Lankan to fifty off 82 balls. A four in the same direction came a couple of balls later.

He was backed up intermittently at the other end. Steven Davies hit as dreamy a 21 as you can imagine. Jason Roy was nearly out twice in three balls when on nought, edging Keogh just short of second slip and then ran past one, only for Murphy to fluff the stumping. It was left to Wilson to offer the congratulatory hug in the middle, as Sangakkara completed his jaunt to three figures by hitting his 139th ball through extra cover for four. By this time, he had opted to bat in a cap, which he doffed to the crowd and his dressing room. He was out on his 140th, dabbing Keogh to short leg. He walked off to his second standing ovation in as many minutes, looking over his shoulder and wondering if he could have given more.

As he returned to the dressing room, he joined the huddle of Surrey players that had congregated around the analyst’s laptop. Perhaps they were looking to see if the dismissal was legitimate. They were probably just watching his highlights. So it was left to Sam Curran to keep the crowd sweet. A maiden first-class fifty came off 87 balls, featuring eight fours and a strong six. He moved to 48 playing a late cut off his toes, like it was the most normal thing for a 17-year-old to be doing on a Wednesday afternoon.

Of course, it is important not to bestow the world upon this teen before he has even registered a full summer. But it is that train of thought that has you saying no to extra cheese or chocolate dusting on your tiramisu. This wasn’t a day for worrying about repercussions. This was another when the grumblers left the Oval contented.

Chief Scores: Surrey 378 for 8 (Sangakkara 101, S Curran 52*) v Northamptonshire