Nottinghamshire will face an uphill battle on the final day of their LV= county championship match against Middlesex at Lord’s.
Batting for a second time, they reached the close on 184-5, holding a narrow lead of just 71 All of the five dismissed batsmen fell to leg before wicket decisions, three of them to Steven Finn, who now has eight wickets in the match.
Middlesex’s charge to victory was held up later in the day by an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 64 between Riki Wessels and Chris Read, who will probably need to stretch that into three figures on the final morning.
Coach Wayne Noon stressed how vital the last hour had been. “The boys played very well out there. It’s become a little bit uneven from the Pavilion End and Chris and Riki had to play exceptionally well.
“Riki has looked in good touch all season so far and the captain also looked good in the first innings. Earlier, the bowlers stuck to their task because it wasn’t easy, the heavy roller had flattened it out considerably and I’m delighted for Andy Carter who got his just rewards by taking three wickets.”
Middlesex’s first innings had ended on 439 during mid-afternoon, with John Simpson making an unbeaten 108, after Sam Robson had gone earlier in the day for 163. Carter claimed the pick of the bowling figures with 3-74.
By general consensus Middlesex began the third day with the upper hand, trailing by only 30 with six wickets in hand. Sam Robson, whose performance on the second day had intensified speculation that he may be included in England’s Test plans this summer, resumed from his overnight 144.
It looked fairly ominous for Notts as Robson soon reached his 150 (283 balls 20x4) and barely celebrated, clearly keen to maintain concentration and produce a really big score.
Peter Siddle and Luke Fletcher were unable to make the breakthrough in their respective opening bursts, although a ball from the Australian clipped the outside edge of John Simpson’s bat and flew down to third man to reduce the deficit to just one.
Carter’s initial over of the day ended the fifth wicket stand of 94 as his extra bounce and zip flew off Robson’s bat and carried, head-high, to Wessels at first slip The opener had batted for 391 minutes for his score of 163.
Simpson, who scored an unbeaten 97 against Notts at Trent Bridge a year ago, passed fifty (117 balls 10x4) but Carter was right on the money, leaking only a single scoring shot from his initial four demanding overs.
Ollie Rayner arrived at the crease ahead of Gareth Berg - after the Italian international had to go to hospital for a scan on a shoulder injury - and Rayner’s stay should have been short.
0n 6, in the 110th over, he was dropped by a diving Read off another Carter edge, meaning that the bonus points situation ended 7-4 in Middlesex’s favour.
Two balls before lunch Notts did pick up their second wicket of the session as Steven Mullaney jagged one back far enough to knock Rayner’s (20) middle stump out of the ground.
James Harris (0) only lasted for five deliveries afterwards, bowled by Patel – and Tim Murtagh’s bright and breeze 12 ended with a catch by Gurney, at mid on, to give Mullaney a second scalp.
Steven Finn provided capable support as Simpson inched towards his maiden Division One century, getting there with his 17th boundary, from 198 balls faced.
He celebrated by lofting Carter back over his head for a maximum but was then dropped at mid off before losing his partner, after Finn (8) was trapped in front to give the same bowler his third wicket.
With Berg still not on the ground the innings was closed, with Middlesex holding a 113-run advantage.
Their position was soon intensified as Murtagh rapped Mullaney (11) on the pads in the third over but Notts’ woes should have been much worse twenty minutes later.
In an exact repeat of the first innings Michael Lumb – on 17 as he was then – mistimed an attempted pull off Finn, ballooned the ball up into the clear blue skies but this time earned a reprieve as Eoin Morgan, running in from point, put down the offering.
Finn made amends in his next over, as umpire Richard Kettleborough gave his first lbw of the match to cut Phil Jaques’ (15) innings short.
Lumb (37) clipped Harris to the midwicket boundary for the first runs after tea but fell in the next over, to another Murtagh leg before decision.
Patel (15) began with three fours - one of them all-run – but became the fourth batsman in a row to perish in the same manner, pinned on the pads deep in his crease.
Finn added to his number of scalps by then getting rid of James Taylor (33) and the jubilant scenes seemed to indicate that the home side felt they’d made the vital breakthrough.
Wessels and Read had other ideas though and remained together until stumps were pulled in the evening sunshine.