Warwickshire hit top spot

Warwickshire went back to the top of Division One by taking just 33 minutes to complete a five-wicket victory against Surrey.

Tim Ambrose took his overnight 74 to 89 not out and Rikki Clarke hit Stuart Meaker for three fours in an over as he went quickly to 40 not out after resuming on 18 at the Kia Oval.

In all, Ambrose and Clarke added an unbroken 74 for the sixth wicket, after Warwickshire resumed just 41 runs short of their target of 222 at 181 for five, and any outside chance of Surrey pulling off a shock victory soon disappeared.

It was Warwickshire's fourth win in six matches and puts them back above Somerset, who temporarily went top of the first division table when they beat Durham earlier in the week.

Several hundred spectators turned up in the glorious south London sunshine to watch the conclusion of what was a magnificent match of fluctuations and tension, but their final-day task proved very simple in the end for Warwickshire.

Four leg byes in Jon Lewis' opening over got the visitors up and running, and then Clarke forced Lewis off the back foot through square cover for two before pulling him dismissively for four.

Ambrose, initially content to defend against Gareth Batty's off breaks at the other end, then drove him for two and cut him for four as Warwickshire's 200 came up with no alarms.

And, when Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown called up his fastest bowler, Meaker, in place of Lewis, the response from Clarke was electric.

First he drove him through extra cover for four, and then whipped a full delivery off his pads to the mid-wicket boundary before hammering a third four past mid on. Meaker's first and only over had cost 12 runs and Warwickshire were almost there.

The end soon came as Hamilton-Brown brought himself on with only a few runs wanted, and Ambrose drove the winning two runs through Meaker at mid-on, who misfielded as he tried to pick up and throw at the bowler's stumps.

Ambrose faced 154 balls and hit eight fours in his superb 89 not out, while Clarke's unbeaten 40 came from 69 balls, with six fours. Warwickshire take 20 points from the win, and Surrey, for whom Batty finished with four for 69 from 30 overs but had little support, take four points.