Close, day two: Middlesex 177-4 trail Warwickshire 486-6 dec by 309 runs
Adam Voges and John Simpson staged a mini rescue mission after four wickets fell for nine balls but Middlesex remain in deep trouble at Uxbridge.
A heavy defeat looked on the cards when Warwickshire, who had declared on 486-6, reduced the hosts to 28-4 on another glorious day for batting.
But Voges and Simpson stopped the rot, both scoring defiant half centuries, and they put on 149 before the close.
Earlier, Warwickshire opener Varun Chopra continued to rack up the runs and he was on 228 not out – five short of his highest first-class score – when the Bears declared.
Although Corey Collymore took a wicket during the morning session, it proved a false dawn as Chopra and new man Tim Ambrose made hay while the sun shone.
They shared in a century stand, and guided Warwickshire to 381-3, before Ambrose fell to Ollie Rayner for a 78-ball 60 not long before lunch.
Middlesex still couldn’t remove lynchpin Chopra and he put on partnerships of 66 with Chris Woakes and 31 with Rikki Clarke.
Rayner and Collymore ended those knocks but the damage had been done by the time the visitors called time on their innings.
Sam Robson made a positive start to the reply with four fours in the first three overs but he then watched partners Dawid Malan and Joe Denly fall within five balls of each other.
Robson himself went in the next over and Warwickshire were rampant when Neil Dexter edged behind first ball to leave Middlesex at 28-4.
But after the storm came the calm as Voges and Simpson produced a regular stream of boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Australian Voges, playing in his first four-day match for Middlesex as he covers for the Ashes-bound skipper Chris Rogers, finished on 81 not out off 116 balls, including 11 fours.
Simpson also reached his half century before stumps – but Middlesex will need their rearguard action to continue into day three if they are to avoid following-on.
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This post was last modified on 10/07/2013