Middlesex locked in battle with Durham
Close, day three: Middlesex 276 & 44-1 trail Durham 377 & 294 by 351 runs
Middlesex will need 352 runs on the final day at Lord’s if they are to pull off their first County Championship win since May.
Tim Murtagh was again a menace with the ball as he took his second five-wicket haul of the match and at one stage Durham were 139-6, leading by 240.
But number eight Gordon Muchall hit an unbeaten 74, sharing in stands of 79 with Paul Collingwood and 50 with John Hastings, every run making Middlesex’s task that bit harder.
After being set 396 to win, the home side suffered a major blow when skipper Chris Rogers was lbw for four, but Sam Robson (34 not out) guided them through to the close.
Durham had resumed on 28-1, a lead of 129, but Murtagh struck twice early in the day – having both Phil Mustard and Mark Stoneman caught behind – to give his side hope.
Michael Richardson (40) added 66 with first-innings centurion Scott Borthwick, but Middlesex pegged Durham back by removing both in successive overs.
First, Richardson was bowled by Dexter and then Murtagh found Borthwick’s edge to leave Durham 200 ahead and five wickets down.
Ben Stokes teamed up with Collingwood to put on another 40 but when he was lbw to Toby Roland-Jones, Middlesex began to believe they could keep their target down to a manageable level.
They didn’t reckon on Durham adding a further 155 for the last four wickets, with Collingwood reaching his 50 with a six and Muchall – out for a duck in the first innings – striking 11 fours.
Their partnership of 79 was ended when Collingwood fell to Steven Finn for 58 but useful runs from Hastings (28) and Chris Rushworth (19) put Durham firmly in charge again.
They would have wanted wickets in the final 12 overs to make their final day task a little easier, and got their wish as Rogers was trapped in front by Hastings.
Robson looked in good touch with seven fours in an unbeaten 34 that came at almost a run a ball, with Dawid Malan dropping anchor at the other end.
However, Middlesex will need score at more than 3.5 per over throughout the final day if they are to threaten victory.
Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook
11/09/2014 @ 9:33 pm
One again, just when you thought that Middlesex were getting on top – the opposition wrestled back control. Again, disappointing and not enough players stepping up to the mark. I actually think that we are capable of getting the runs but I’m sure that we will, as ever, give away wickets at the wrong times and come up short. Just hope that Lancashire can not deliver the goods at Sussex tomorrow.