Surrey They need 249 runs more to win 173 (Burns 47, James 3-35, Tongue 3-43) and 0 for 66 (Burns 41*). Nottinghamshire 231 and 256 (Patterson-White 58, Fisher 6-73).
A thrilling final day awaits at Kia Oval. Surrey need a further 249 runs with both second-innings wickets in hand to beat Nottinghamshire and take a big step towards a fourth successive Rothesay County Championship title.
Dom Sibley also remained unbeaten on 18 and the two powerful Surrey openers took the last two wickets for 37 runs in 10 overs to calm home nerves after bowling Notts out for the first time on 256 in the second innings.
With both teams having picked up just three bowling bonus points so far in the low-scoring contest, Surrey sit just one point ahead of Notts in the Division One table. That means the 16 points on offer for victory will be crucial in deciding the fate of the championship title with just one round of matches remaining next week.
Surrey’s target was a stiff one, considering the ball was moving around for the faster bowlers throughout the match. But there were signs in the second evening and truncated third that the batting was becoming a little more comfortable.
But beyond those opportunities, Burns and Sibley looked to be in good order as they gave the team a solid foundation to build a run chase on before worse light ruled out a restart after early kicks.
Bad light and drizzle prevented the start until 1.10pm, with Brett Hutton in particular displaying controlled aggression, going from 23 runs overnight to an unbeaten 42 from 43 balls.
Resuming at the 14th, Tongue made a nice 4-and-out play on a drive against Fisher, then drove again at the 22nd and made a trailing catch.
Dillon Pennington stayed for a while and added 15 more runs for the last wicket to reach 8, while Atkinson produced a perfect yorker that hit the base of the off-stump for 11.
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