Gubbins builds on bowlers’ work to steady Middlesex
Lancashire 513: Petersen 191; Rayner 4-120, Roland-Jones 4-122
Middlesex 146-1: Gubbins 71*, Eskinazi 43*; Parkinson 1-36
Close, day two: Middlesex trail Lancashire by 367 runs
Nick Gubbins scored his fifth Championship half-century of the season to guide Middlesex through a tricky evening session after Lancashire had racked up the runs on day two at Lord’s.
The visitors pushed on from their overnight score of 298-3 and were eventually bowled out for 513, with Alviro Petersen falling just short of a double century.
Toby Roland-Jones removed both Petersen and Liam Livingstone (58) as he took three wickets in eight balls, while Ollie Rayner cleaned up the tail with Lancashire looking to push on.
Rayner had taken two wickets in the morning, including with his first ball of the day as Steven Croft (46) paid the price for an ambitious reverse sweep and top-edged to wicket-keeper John Simpson.
Petersen continued to impressing, passing 150 before lunch and adding 103 for the sixth wicket with the brisk Livingstone.
His run-a-ball 58 included 10 boundaries but he sacrificed himself for the cause of moving the game on, lofting Toby Roland-Jones to long-off and James Fuller taking the second of two smart catches.
In Roland-Jones’ next over, Petersen dispatched him for six but was out the following ball, offering a return catch to the bowler off a leading edge, an anti-climactic end to a near five-hour vigil.
Middlesex almost prevented Lancashire from reaching 500, as Roland-Jones and Rayner chipped away at the tail, but a last-wicket stand of 15 got them past that milestone.
Knowing taking 20 wickets would be hard on a docile pitch, Lancashire had scored 109 off 18 overs in the afternoon session, but Middlesex survived a testing 45-minute spell before tea.
Gubbins and Sam Robson took their opening stand to 59 before spinner Matt Parkinson had the latter caught at slip in his second over.
The in-form Gubbins, averaging 42 in the Championship this season and proud owner of a maiden first-class ton in last month’s game with Somerset, moved on serenely to 71 by stumps.
He was joined by Stevie Eskinazi, playing only his second first-class match, and he cruised past his previous best of 22, although Middlesex still require 217 more to avoid the follow-on.
