Auqib Nabi’s first Surrey wicket was Kuldeep Yadav, and then Surrey were bowled out for 83
Nabi got Kuldeep caught at second slip on his county debut at the Oval. Surrey’s reply to Yorkshire’s 185 lasted 30 overs.
Sep 3, 2026
Auqib Nabi came around the wicket to Kuldeep Yadav on Thursday morning at the Oval, moved the ball just enough away from the left-hander, and watched Ollie Pope take the edge at second slip. First County Championship wicket, on debut, and it belonged to an India team-mate.
That was the good part of Surrey’s day. By mid-afternoon they had been bowled out for 83.
Thirty overs, and it was over
Yorkshire had made 185, which on a well-grassed Oval surface did not look like a total that would settle anything. Surrey lasted 30 overs. Rory Burns went for 9, Dom Sibley for 7, Josh Blake for 2, and at 22 for 3 inside nine overs the innings had stopped being about anything except how bad the number would get.
Ollie Pope made 21 and top-scored. Nobody else reached the twenties, and nobody else faced more than 30 balls. Ben Foakes made 9 from 28. Matthew Fisher hit 12 off 18 at number eight. Nabi, in at nine, was caught for 1. Rahul Chahar hit a six inside a three-ball stay and was the last man out.
Ben Coad took 3 for 22, Jack White 3 for 14 from nine overs, and George Hill and Matthew Revis took two apiece without either bowling more than six. Yorkshire used four bowlers and had no need of a fifth.
Yorkshire were 1 for 3, and still made 185
Yorkshire’s own innings had started no more steadily. They were 1 for 3 after 2.3 overs on Wednesday, Adam Lyth and Sam Whiteman both lbw to Fisher, William Luxton caught behind off Dan Worrall. James Wharton and Revis then dug in for 91 across 37 overs for the fourth wicket, and neither of them got past 45. Morning rain had pushed the start to 1.10pm and 36.1 overs were lost across the day.
Tom Lawes finished with 4 for 36, Worrall 3 for 40 from 21 overs. Nabi’s 15 overs cost 33, an economy rate of 2.20, and brought him Kuldeep, who had been at the crease for 53 balls when he got out for 17. Dom Bess was unbeaten on 44 when Lawes had Jack White caught and bowled to finish the innings off.
Nabi landed in England last week on a deal for three Championship matches, arranged with India’s tour of New Zealand in November behind it. September in England is about the closest rehearsal on offer for Wellington and Christchurch. He got a fair sample of it on Thursday: a green pitch, a ball that moved, a left-hander poking at one, and then his own top order folding inside a session.
Surrey are eighth and running out of matches
Yorkshire batted again and lost Lyth and Whiteman to Fisher inside four overs, which kept the day symmetrical if nothing else, but Luxton fell for 29 and the lead was 138 with seven wickets standing. Surrey need this to swing hard.
They sit eighth of ten in Division One on 108 points, with one win from eleven matches. Yorkshire are seventh on 120. The last time the two met, at Headingley in May, Yorkshire won by an innings and 127. Nottinghamshire, Somerset and Warwickshire are covered by five points at the top with the title unresolved; below Surrey there are only Leicestershire and Hampshire.
Nabi goes to Hove for Sussex on 8 September and comes back to the Oval for Glamorgan on 15 September. On Thursday’s evidence he will get plenty of bowling.