Mark Ramprakash was finally out yesterday after batting for 19 hours 24 minutes in the championship and scoring 490 runs but the fire within will be raging again if Surrey do not go on to win for the first time in the first division this season.

Ramprakash, captaining Surrey because Mark Butcher has a knee injury, had added 178 to his 112 not out against Yorkshire and his 200 not out against Somerset when he tried to hoist Ollie Rayner, the off spinner, over the square-leg boundary and was well caught by Robin Martin-Jenkins.

Any other batsman would have been satisfied after batting as well as he had for 468 minutes in which he faced 311 balls and hit a six and 23 fours but Ramprakash, who had already been reported to the ECB for getting involved in a row with Murray Goodwin omn Wednesday, was probably fuming about getting out when he did.

Jonathan Batty, who completed his hundred in the first over of the day, had joined him in a third wicket partnership of 232 before falling leg-before to Corey Collymore but Usman Afzaal did not score quickly enough to secure a fifth batting point.

Afzaal, who needed 143 balls for his 58, and James Benning did put on 78 but the last six wickets went down for 57 against the off spin of Rory Hamilton-Brown and the part-time off spin of Chris Nash.

Hamilton-Brown, who left Surrey for Sussex at the end of last season, took his first two championship wickets in three balls and went on to return three for 54 while Nash picked up three for seven in four overs.

A total of 455 looked imposing enough when Jade Dernbach bowled Nash off the inside edge in his second over and had Michael Thornely caught behind in his third, but Ramprakash would have been fretting again, when Goodwin of all people was dropped at second slip by Matt Nicholson off Benning when he had made five.

Goodwin went on to join Michael Yardy, captaining Sussex because Chris Adams is out with damaged ribs, in a third wicket stand of 69 which was looking promising before Benning ran out Yardy with a direct hit from short fine leg.

Goodwin is still there on 49, though, and Ramprakash will not be happy about that.

Scoreboard

Surrey: First Innings (overnight 256-2)
*M R Ramprakash c Martin-Jenkins b Rayner 178
J N Batty lbw b Collymore 102
U Afzaal c Martin-Jenkins b Nash 58
J G E Benning c Hopkinson b Hamilton-Brown 36
M J Nicholson c Hodd b Hamilton-Brown 0
A J Tudor c Rayner b Nash 30
Saqlain Mushtaq c Goodwin b Nash 5
Murtaza Hussain st Hodd b Hamilton-Brown 2
J W Dernbach not out 4
Extras (b 5, lb 13, w 2, nb 2) 22
Total (147.3 overs) 455

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-40, 3-272, 4-320, 5-398, 6-398, 7-444, 8-444, 9-450.

Bowling: Lewry 28-4-81-2; Collymore 20-6-61-1; Martin-Jenkins 22-2-58-0; Rayner 42-5-112-1; Thornely 4-0-25-0; Hamilton-Brown 12.3-0-54-3; Yardy 15-2-39-0; Nash 4-1-7-3.

Sussex: First Innings
*M H Yardy run out 37
C D Nash b Dernbach 7
M A Thornely c Batty b Dernbach 0
M W Goodwin not out 49
O P Rayner not out 0
Extras (nb 4) 4
Total (3 wkts, 37 overs) 97

C D Hopkinson, R J Hamilton-Brown, A J Hodd, R S C Martin-Jenkins, C D Collymore and J D Lewry to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-16, 3-85.

Bowling: Nicholson 8-3-17-0; Dernbach 6-2-18-2; Benning 4-0-19-0; Tudor 6-3-7-0; Saqlain 7-0-33-0; Hussain 6-4-3-0.

Umpires: R J Bailey and J F Steele.