Middlesex on course for title after Lancashire draw

Middlesex will go into next week’s County Championship title showdown with Yorkshire nine points clear after a draw at Old Trafford.

David Malan and John Simpson’s stand of 151 provided the backbone of Middlesex’s 259-8 declared, which set up a chase of 309 from 44 overs.

Lancashire briefly flirted with a dart for victory through a Jos Buttler cameo but then dropped anchor to close the game out.

Malan and Simpson had come together with their side wavering on the third afternoon, guiding them to a lead of 140 with four wickets down.

The pair made it through the morning session unscathed, recording elegant half-centuries, but both fell amid a clatter of wickets as Middlesex looked to push on after tea.

Malan reached 87 before edging behind trying to cut Simon Kerrigan, Toby Roland-Jones sliced to point, James Franklin was caught at long-on and Simpson was bowled by Luke Procter.

After the visitors’ declaration, Lancashire opted to promote Buttler to open the batting ahead of the more cautious Haseeb Hameed.

Buttler was immediately into his work, hitting Steven Finn for two boundaries, and after nine balls he had 24 runs, while his partner Rob Jones – a first-innings centurion – was still on 0.

However, he tried one flick too many, a leading edge off Finn finding Nick Compton at cover.

From there, Jones and Hameed played cautiously – scoring 25 each from a combined 140 balls – until Middlesex captain Franklin offered a handshake at 4.30pm.

It leaves Middlesex in pole position to win their first Championship title since 1993, with next week’s opponents Yorkshire, and Somerset, their potential challengers.