Ryan Patel led a solid Surrey batting effort to defy nearest challengers Somerset on the second day of the top-of-the-table County Championship First Division clash at Taunton.
The 26-year-old all-rounder was unbeaten on 61 in a first innings total of 169-3 when rain ended play for the day at 15:00 BST, with a minimum of 26 overs remaining.
Ben Geddes made 50, while all three wickets fell to 18-year-old off-spinner Archie Vaughan.
Surrey trailed by 148, but with seven wickets in hand will be confident of at least getting close to Somerset’s first innings total of 317, knowing that a draw will be sufficient to make them red hot title favourites with only two more games to play.
The visitors went into the match 24 points clear of their opponents and with both sides having so far taken three bonus points, the advantage remains the same.
The skies were heavily overcast as Surrey began their first innings at the start of the day. Somerset debutant Brett Randell opened up with a maiden from the River End and both the Kiwi seamer and Craig Overton beat the bat in their early overs.
Rory Burns and Dom Sibley survived to be confronted by spin from the eighth over when Jack Leach was introduced into the attack, soon to be followed by Vaughan, operating from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End.
Both were soon providing a tough examination for the Surrey openers, extracting turn from the second-day pitch. But Burns and Sibley proved up to the challenge and had put together a stand of 41 in 16.2 overs when they were parted.
Sibley, on 16, went to slog-sweep a delivery from Vaughan and failed to clear mid-wicket where Tom Abell took a smart two-handed catch above his head.
Burns appeared to survive a chance to wicketkeeper James Rew off Vaughan when on 21 but it mattered little as the left-hander departed without addition, lbw trying to sweep a delivery from the same bowler, which straightened from around the wicket.
At 48-2, Surrey were in a spot of bother, but the skies were clearing and Patel and Geddes rotated the strike intelligently while taking advantage of rare loose deliveries, particularly from Leach.
By lunch, they had taken the total to 91-2 from 37 overs, with Geddes unbeaten on 27 and Patel 19 not out.
Vaughan had figures of 2-17 from 12 overs, having been a model of accuracy and gone past the outside edge on several occasions.
A curtailed afternoon session saw Geddes bring up the half-century stand with a boundary off Vaughan, who bowled 19 overs unchanged either side of lunch before switching ends and sending down seven more.
Geddes, making his first Championship appearance for Surrey since 2022, went to an impressive 93-ball fifty, with six fours, but fell soon afterwards with the total on 128, miscuing a sweep off Vaughan and lofting a simple catch to Lewis Goldsworthy at short fine leg.
By then Patel was looking well set. He brought up his half-century having batted patiently for 130 balls and looked increasingly comfortable against the spinners.
With the score 168-3, the umpires ordered the floodlights to be turned on. Soon afterwards, with Goldsworthy preparing to bowl his first over of the match, the rain, which had been forecast, started falling and the players made for the pavilion.
It became heavier and persistent, leading to play being abandoned at just after 16:30.
