Surrey 211 for 4 (Sibley 77, Lawrence 52*) trail Nottinghamshire 415 (Clarke 129, Haynes 82, Worrall 6-73) by 204 runs
Dom Sibley continued his impressive start to the season with a battling 77 in the heavyweight clash between last year's first and second in the Rothesay County Championship but his dismissal in the last half hour of day two at Trent Bridge felt like an important blow struck by the defending champions.
Sibley, whose form is making a case for a potential Test recall as England reset after the winter Ashes debacle, batted for more than four hours against a high-quality Nottinghamshire attack as Surrey closed on 211 for four in reply to the home side's first-innings 415, Dan Lawrence finishing unbeaten on 52.
The 30-year-old opener, who won the most recent of his 22 Test caps in August 2021, failed in his quest for a third century in as many matches after his 101 against Essex and last week's 187 as Surrey's win over Sussex, but his innings was vital in the face of the threat posed by England pace bowlers Josh Tongue (two for 38) and Olly Stone.
He was eventually dismissed caught behind off left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White, shortly after Lawrence had survived a difficult chance on 43.
Nottinghamshire, 317 for seven overnight, began the day by adding 98 runs for their last two wickets after Joe Clarke had fallen to the second ball he faced without addition to his 129, Sean Abbott claiming the wicket via a thin edge to Jamie Smith, 'keeping in place of the injured Ben Foakes.
Stone joined Fergus O'Neill in adding 24 for the ninth wicket before he and Tongue plundered another 74 for the tenth on a frustrating morning for Surrey.
What Nottinghamshire really wanted from Stone, Tongue and O'Neill, of course, was a meaningful clutch of wickets to inflict still more pain on the visitors. Yet only one was forthcoming in the 37 overs Surrey faced between lunch and tea.
On the field together for the first time as Nottinghamshire team-mates, Stone and Tongue gave their captain the chance to threaten Surrey with express pace from both ends and Haseeb Hameed did unleash them both for a while after Stone had made a breakthrough 12 overs into the afternoon.
Encouraged by the form he rediscovered against Leicestershire last week, Stone will have in his mind that he might yet force his way back into the England picture and his dismissal of Rory Burns provided an early fillip.
Looking to pull, the Surrey captain could only send the ball skywards off a top edge, with Stone making it clear to any other interested parties that he was tracking its path before steadying himself to take the catch.
Smith arrived to join Sibley and what followed was the kind of attritional yet absorbing contest you would expect to see when these teams meet, particularly in the light of the epic encounter they shared at the Kia Oval last year.
In reaching tea at 119 for one, Surrey's second-wicket pair could be pleased with their work. Moreover, Sibley, whose form is surely adding to the pressure on Zak Crawley as he struggles for runs, had his third half-century in as many matches, having converted the previous two into hundreds.
Stone could make no more inroads in his second spell. Yet there was no respite. Tongue, back for his second spell after tea, raised the bar a little higher. With the input of Smith's England colleague, Ben Duckett, Hameed and Tongue hatched a plan that quickly saw Smith caught - by Duckett - at leg slip, fending the ball away in front of his visor.
A couple of overs later, another short delivery saw Ryan Patel snapped up at short leg. Having been 131 for one, Surrey were 137 for three.
Lawrence went on the attack as he and Sibley alleviated that moment of crisis, but after failing to cling on to a tough chance given by the former off Stone on 43, Patterson-White produced an excellent delivery to hand his side a late advantage.
