Leicestershire took advantage of ideal batting conditions at the Brit Oval to lay the foundations for a sizeable first-innings total in their LV County Championship Division Two match against Surrey.

The major contributors for the Foxes, who unsurprisingly chose to bat first, were their South African pair Boeta Dippenaar and HD Ackerman. Dippenaar made 86 off 149 balls and Ackerman hit a fluent 75 off 107 balls.

Leicestershire had dropped opener Josh Cobb to give Greg Smith his first championship game of the season and Smith was instrumental in putting his side back on track after they had lost Matthew Boyce to the third ball of the day.

The left-handed Boyce pushed the ball gently into the covers and was well short of his ground when Chris Schofield threw down the stumps at the bowler's end.

Dippenaar's first 28 runs, all off the bowling of compatriot Andre Nel, were exclusively in boundaries. An edge between second and third slips was as close as he came to losing his wicket en route to a 78-ball 50, while Smith blossomed from a slow start to play some pleasing straight drives.

Leicestershire were well placed on 107 for one at lunch but Surrey's seamers first stemmed the flow of runs, conceding just nine runs in the 12 overs immediately after the interval, then struck twice in quick succession.

Smith and Dippenaar had added 139 in 38 overs when the latter top-edged a cut off Jade Dernbach's bowling to second slip, where Surrey captain Stewart Walters took a sharp shoulder-high catch.

Dernbach, comfortably Surrey's best bowler, almost claimed Ackerman's wicket when he had made four, an inside edge narrowly missing leg stump, but he did remove Smith soon afterwards.

The opener, who had added just five singles in 90 minutes to his lunchtime score of 41, edged defensively to wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty.

Leicestershire regained control in a fourth-wicket stand of 105 in 33 overs between Ackerman and James Taylor, whose application helped to compensate for the absence of Jim Allenby.

The in-form all-rounder is unlikely to play for the county again after confirming that he would not meet the July 31 deadline for agreeing a new three-year contract.

Surrey's decision to delay the second new ball paid off when Ackerman drove at a flighted leg-break from Schofield and was caught by Walters at slip. The 19-year-old Taylor completed his 50 off 120 balls 10 minutes from the end.