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Sam Curran added 77 to his first innings 70, in his first red-ball appearance since last September, as Surrey saw out a rain-hit final day on 289-7 to secure a draw against Essex at the Kia Oval.

Curran's 121-ball effort held Surrey's batting together as seamer Jamie Porter and off-spinner Simon Harmer threatened to bowl Essex to a second County Championship win of the season.

Six separate rain interruptions – all of them short, but lopping 20 overs in all from the final day's allocation – did not help Essex's cause and in the end, a 51-run stand between Jamie Overton and Jordan Clark proved decisive.

Overton stayed just over two hours for his 47 from 102 balls, edging Porter to third slip just before 6.00pm from what became the last ball of the game, Clark finishing 23 not out.

Porter took 5-88 from 27 overs and Harmer 2-94 from 34 with Essex taking 11 points for the draw and Surrey, who stay second in the Division One table, picked up 12.