Centuries of contrasting styles from skipper Chris Adams and Tony Cottey have at least ensured Sussex will leave the Oval with pride restored some time today.

While Adams blazed away with typical belligerence for his 114 Cottey's century, only his fourth for the county, was no less impressive as Sussex were bowled out for 379 in their second innings on the third day of the Championship match.

Their efforts are unlikely to prevent the county from suffering defeat by a Surrey side who have shown over the first three days of the season that they are going to take some stopping this season.

Needing 113 to win, the title favourites will resume on 23-0, needing another 90 today on a pitch where 1,252 runs have already been scored at four runs an over.

But after the mauling their bowlers and then their batsmen suffered on the first two days, yesterday's play was much more of an equal struggle and, in the performance of two of their senior batsmen, there were some encouraging signs for Sussex in a match where the challenges which lie ahead in Division One have been brought sharply into focus.

Adams can seldom have played better for his adopted county. He came to the wicket with his side, already 267 in arrears after Surrey had wrapped up Sussex's first innings in the first over, 0-1 second time around after Alex Tudor had trapped Richard Montgomerie plumb in front with a ball which nipped back at considerable pace off the seam.

Oval sages reckon Tudor, fresh from a winter in Australia with the England academy, has seldom bowled quicker for his county than in this match. He troubled Adams several times in the first innings, but Sussex's skipper was equal to the challenge yesterday, pulling Tudor for six over mid-wicket early on as if to signal his intent.

Successive boundaries off Jimmy Ormond took him to fifty off 62 balls and he only needed another 50 balls to reach his tenth hundred for the county and 31st of his career. Sussex won't play on many better wickets this season and the Surrey attack soon discovered that any indiscretion in line or length was going to be ruthlessly punished by his broad bat.

When Adams is hitting the ball as straight as he did when twice drilling Martin Bicknell back past a despairing right hand, it is usually a sign that he is in good form. There were three crashing boundaries through the covers off Azhar Mahmood in another over as he passed 13,000 career runs. If he can maintain this form for the rest of the season then he will go a long way towards ensuring Sussex's future in Division One.

Adams lost Murray Goodwin, caught at bat-pad off Salisbury after the second wicket pair had put on 110, but Sussex were enjoying supremacy for the first time in the match when he helped add 88 with Cottey in even time either side of lunch, his century coming in the 36th over off 112 balls.

Tudor was summoned back into the attack and in his first over, as he built up a considerable head of steam, Cottey, on 36, survived when Alec Stewart just failed to hold on to a top-edged hook. If anything, Tudor's next over was even quicker and Adams finally succumbed when he got an inside edge onto a ball which beat him for pace and also kept a touch low. His 114, made in three hours, contained 22 fours and a six.

Michael Yardy, whose gutsy 93 was the highlight of Sussex's first innings on Saturday, fell leg before to Ormond and any hopes Sussex had of saving the game probably disappeared after the soft dismissals of Robin Martin-Jenkins and Matt Prior, the only disappointments on an otherwise encouraging day for the county.

It was bad enough that Martin-Jenkins pulled a ball from Mahmood straight down the throat of deep square leg just after the fielder had been pushed back 30 yards. But Prior did exactly the same when the Pakistani dropped short again in his next over and departed looking suitably shame-faced.

When Mark Davis propped forward to Salisbury and Nadeem Shahid took his second good catch of the day at short leg, Sussex were still five runs in arrears. But Cottey remained resolute, content to defend the good balls and punish anything loose.

He found an equally dependable partner in James Kirtley and the pair frustrated Surrey for 15 overs with Kirtley hitting eight fours in his 34 as they added 55 before Tudor uprooted Kirtley's middle stump with a ball of fullish length.

Cottey was on 82 when the eighth wicket fell and, as Jason Lewry faced the menacing Tudor with all ten fielders on the off side, he can't have held out too much hope of completing his first hundred for Sussex since August 2000. But Lewry kept him company until Cottey was able to punch a full toss from Salisbury through mid-wicket for his tenth boundary to bring up three figures.

That abberation against Tudor was his only mis-judgement until, trying to cut Salisbury off the back foot, he got a thin edge to Stewart. His 114 came off 154 deliveries, 12 of which were hit for four.

No one is more aware than Cottey that he owes Sussex after three years of underachievement, the last of which was ruined by injury. This was only his fourth hundred for the county, but the way he has started the new season suggests the critics who doubted Sussex's wisdom in awarding him a five-year contract might finally be silenced.

Adams will have been pleased with the way his tail-enders refused to be cowed, even when Surrey took the new ball. Lewry will certainly have enjoyed hitting Mahmood for three fours through the off side in one over.

The last four wickets put on 117 before Bicknell was belatedly rewarded when Hutchison edged him to fourth slip, leaving Surrey in the driving seat on a pitch which is still a batsman's dream.