The home side claimed seven Surrey wickets, four of them going to left-arm swing bowler Jamie Harrison. He finished with five for 31 as the visitors were dismissed for 108, then took the first wicket when they followed on 313 behind.
Two wickets in two balls in Usman Arshad’s second over reduced Surrey to 33 for three, but with Hashim Amla showing his class, they had advanced to 52 for three by the time bad light and then rain ended play.
Harrison, a 22-year-old Lancastrian who was picked up by Durham from Sedbergh School, took four for 112 on his championship debut at Taunton in May last year. But after playing in the next two games he did not appear again for the first team until the current match. He was called into the side because of injuries suffered by regular seamers Graham Onions and Callum Thorp.
Elsewhere in Division Two, only Moeen Ali appears to stand between Lancashire and victory at Worcester. Ali was 101 not out by the close of play on the third day as Worcestershire limped to 166 for five, a lead of just 12 runs.
The England Lions left-hander became the first batsman to score two hundreds in a match for Worcestershire for three years.
Earlier, Luke Procter hit 76 and Tom Smith 84 as Lancashire were bowled out for 441, a first-innings lead of 154.
Spinners Dean Cosker and Andrew Salter shared seven wickets as Glamorgan sealed their second Division Two victory of the season, beating Leicestershire by an innings and 37 runs at Swansea.
Cosker finished with four for 88 and Salter three for 66 – giving him match figures of five for 100 on his championship debut – as Leicestershire were bowled out for 268.
Leicestershire, who are bottom of the table, had looked certain for defeat after being bowled out for 203 in their first innings and then having to watch Glamorgan compile 508 for nine declared. Glamorgan took a maximum 24 points with Leicestershire picking up just three.
Rain thwarted Kent’s attempt to force only their second win of the season when persistent and heavy showers throughout the final day forced the abandonment of their match against Gloucestershire at Canterbury.
With Gloucestershire teetering on the brink of defeat at 307 for nine, still 92 short of their victory target, the heavens opened just 10 minutes before the scheduled 11am start time and the rain never relented thereafter.
The umpires, Neil Bainton and David Millns, sent the players for an early lunch at 12.30pm but, with rain still falling, had little option but to call the game off come 3pm, leaving Gloucestershire’s Gareth Roderick as the visiting hero, unbeaten on a match-saving 152.
