Leicestershire's Ben Cox is one of five batters to make centuries at The Oval so far.

Rothesay County Championship, Division One, Kia Oval (day three)
Surrey 520: Smith 166, Pope 103; Scriven 3-81
Leicestershire 691: Patel 164, Cox 162, Eskinazi 100; Lawes 4-141
Leics (7 pts) lead Surrey (6 pts) by 171 runs

A magnificent 227-run sixth wicket stand between Ben Cox and Stephen Eskinazi helped Leicestershire stun Surrey at the Kia Oval by running up 691 all out – their highest score against them.

On a flat pitch that blunted a five-man Surrey seam attack, Cox and Eskinazi both scored impressive third-day hundreds as Leicestershire surged remorselessly past the home side's own imposing 520 to earn themselves a lead of 171 by stumps.

Cox's 162 was a career-best, and only his fifth century in a 172-match first-class career that famously began in 2009 when – as a 17-year-old – he was summoned from his A-Level studies at Bromsgrove School to keep wicket for Worcestershire, whom he represented until 2023.

He was eventually leg-before to Tom Lawes, armed with a third new ball, after batting for 232 balls and 274 minutes, hitting a six and 21 fours in a quality innings from number seven.

Eskinazi, meanwhile, spent 11 years at Middlesex before joining Leicestershire last winter and his 100 from 213 balls, in which he struck a six and eight fours, was his 11th first-class ton.

Having won promotion to Division One last year, after a decade and more in the doldrums, it was a significant achievement by Leicestershire to post what is their record first-class total against Surrey, beating the 636-4 declared made at Leicester in 2003.

The Cox-Eskinazi partnership, meanwhile, was only 10 runs short of Leicestershire's sixth wicket record against Surrey, the unbroken 237 between Roger Tolchard and Brian Booth at Grace Road in 1971, and it leaves Surrey facing a potentially uncomfortable final day.

Leicestershire, with two frontline and Test-capped spinners in their ranks in New Zealand's Ajaz Patel and England's Rehan Ahmed, will now relish the opportunity to get at Surrey's batting line-up in the last three sessions of the game.

Rishi Patel, Leicestershire's first centurion of the innings, added 31 to his overnight 133 and the tall and elegant opener had negotiated a second new ball for his team before he finally fell to an edge behind off the persevering Jordan Clark.

Patel's near six-and-a-half hour 164 had taken him 262 balls, and featured 28 fours.

Leicestershire began the day with four more overs to face before Surrey could take that second new ball and Lewis Hill, who started out on 60, did not make it that far – falling leg-before to Lawes to the first delivery of the 80th over.

Lawes, kept on to share the new ball with Matt Fisher, bowled with decent pace in a spell in which he also managed to find some swing, but after Patel's dismissal by Clark there was no more joy for Surrey's toiling bowlers for another 60 overs.

Leicestershire went past Surrey's total just after 15:00 BST and both Cox and Eskinazi kept the scoreboard ticking over without taking undue risks.

Dan Lawrence's off breaks were tried in a lengthy afternoon spell but neither he nor the quicker bowlers could make any impression on Leicestershire's sixth wicket pair until Clark angled one into Eskinazi's pads and won a leg-before appeal three balls after the right-hander had completed his hundred.

Despite short breaks for bad light and a light rain shower, Ben Green then helped Cox to add a further 37 for the seventh wicket before Lawes ended the keeper-batsman's superb knock in early evening sunshine.

Green was also pinned leg-before by Lawes for 19, and the 23-year-old paceman bowled Ajaz Patel for a duck off an under-edged pull from his very next ball to finish a long, hard day with figures of 4-141.

Fisher bowled Tom Scriven for 11 in the day's final over.

Report by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay.