Middlesex frustrated by battling Somerset
Middlesex 283 & 132-6 dec drew with Somerset 197 and 147-7
Middlesex came up three wickets short of what would have been an amazing final-day victory as Somerset dropped anchor to escape with a draw at Northwood.
Having lost some of the second day, and all of the third, to rain, and the visitors still yet to complete their first innings, the chance of a positive result seemed slim.
Middlesex did themselves a favour by taking the last two Somerset wickets inside the first 20 minutes of the day, giving them a lead of 86.
They were 41-2 when further drizzle brought lunch forward and bad light delayed the restart briefly.
Undeterred, Middlesex pushed the score along at more than 5.5 an over, adding a further 91, with James Franklin (32) and John Simpson (17 not out) putting on 45 in 35 balls before a declaration.
That set Somerset a realistic target of 219 in 40 overs and they made a steady start by reaching 39-0 from the first 10.
James Hildreth cracked four successive boundaries off a Tim Murtagh over and Marcus Trescothick weighed in with 50 but Toby Roland-Jones removed both of them and some tight bowling increased the required run-rate.
When Jamie Overton was caught and bowled by James Harris, Middlesex started to eye victory themselves, needing five wickets from the final 10 overs.
Harris and Murtagh both struck again to leave Somerset seven down and 18 balls to negotiate – but Tim Groenewald and Michael Bates blocked out to frustrate the hosts.
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