Rahul Chahar’s devastating eight for 51 guaranteed Surrey runners-up spot after they had waved farewell to the Rothesay County Championship title.

Defeat by Nottinghamshire at the Kia Oval a week earlier had all but ensured Rory Burns’ men could not become the first team in 70 years to finish top four seasons in a row. The midlands side duly secured the pennant through an overwhelming victory over Warwickshire, finishing 16 points clear at the top of Division One.

Surrey instead had to scrap for a victory by 20 runs – the same margin by which they had lost to Notts – over Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl, although Somerset’s reverse at Chelmsford would have prevented them pinching second place anyway.

It was spearheaded by leg-spinner Chahar on his first appearance for the club, dismissing Hampshire for 160 early on the final day in a defeat which looked sure to see them relegated until Durham’s meltdown at Headingley sent them down instead.

The 26-year-old broke a 166-year-old record, William Mudie’s seven for 61 v The North in 1859 the previous best by a Surrey player on his first-class debut. It also marked the largest haul for a spinner from the county since Pat Pocock claimed nine for 57 against Glamorgan at Cardiff in 1979.

Bowled out for 147 on the opening day – Dan Lawrence’s 36 the modest best as spinners Liam Dawson and Washington Sundar claimed three wickets apiece – the visitors seemed poised for a second defeat of the season when Hampshire reached 154 for three by the end of the opening day. But seamer Matt Fisher claimed two wickets in opening over of the second and from there Hampshire slid to 248 all out as Chahar and off-spinner Lawrence’s two victims apiece were augmented by left-arm spinner Ralphie Albert’s two for seven in seven overs on his first-class debut.

On a pitch where batting was never easy, Surrey battled to create a defendable target, opener Dominic Sibley (44), wicketkeeper Ben Foakes (43) and Lawrence (47) all fighting hard. It was 17-year-old Albert who played the crucial innings, making 63 which along with Fisher’s 20 not out extended the innings to 281 all out. Seamer Kyle Abbott finished with five for 72.

Although Ali Orr made 48 at the top of the order in the pursuit of 181, he gained little support as Chahar worked his way through the batting. Principally aided by Lawrence (two for 61), his spin, guile and control proved too much for a nervous Hampshire side desperate for survival. At 121 for eight, the match looked all but over but the hard-hitting James Fuller (37) dragged them to 148 for nine when bad light ended play, still needing 33 on the final morning.

With just last man Brad Wheal for company, Fuller reduced that by 13 but the 42nd delivery of the day saw him edge behind to Foakes, giving Chahar his tenth wicket of the match.

It was Surrey’s’ fifth victory of the season, two behind Nottinghamshire, underlining the advantage of having a frontline spinner. It is a gap they will need to plug next year to have a realistic chance of recapturing the title.

Their 180th anniversary season thus ended in disappointment – by the recent sky-high standards – given they were knocked out of the Vitality Blast in the quarter-finals.

By Richard Spiller