STUMPS, DAY THREE. Durham (294; Jennings 98 & 24-2) require 235 runs to beat Middlesex (463; Robson 178 & 89 all out; Hastings 5-24 Rushworth 5-38) with eight second innings wickets remaining.
Points – Middlesex 7, Durham 4.
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Durham have given themselves the chance of making it three wins out of three in the LV= County Championship after Chris Rushworth and John Hastings shared ten wickets as they routed Middlesex for 89.
Rushworth took 5 for 38, including the first four wickets to fall, and Australian Hastings finished with 5 for 24 after Middlesex, who had taken a first innings lead of 169, elected not to enforce the follow-on.
With Tim Murtagh sidelined by a hamstring injury that is likely to rule him out of Ireland’s one-day international against England on Friday, the decision to give their bowlers more time to rest looked sound.
Instead, Middlesex were indebted to Murtagh’s cameo with the bat as he swiped an unbeaten 22 batting with a runner in a last-wicket stand of 39 with Steven Finn that only partly rescued their side from the ruins of 50 for 9.
Rushworth said: “We expected Middlesex to enforce the follow-on so it was a surprise to be bowling again. Paul Collingwood gave us a team talk, saying that we’d been in this position before and gone out and put the opposition on the back foot and that’s what happened.
“We know we’ve got bowlers capable of giving us momentum quickly and we were all delighted for John Hastings. He loves Durham and to see him walking off with the ball after taking a five-for at Lord’s was brilliant for him.
“I feel really good at the moment. I’m confident with the ball and I’ve got great rhythm. I know what I need to do to take wickets. We knew we had to make the batsmen play more than we did in their first innings so we bowled a slightly fuller length and once we got some momentum it was hard for them.
“The first hour tomorrow will be testing but it’s a pretty good wicket and if we can get through that we’ve got a good chance.”
The combined efforts of Rushworth and Hastings left Durham needing 269 to win and the visitors made a bad start when Keaton Jennings, who had been dismissed for 98 in the first innings, was caught at mid-wicket for a duck off James Harris.
Mark Stoneman followed in the seventh over, half-forward to Harris and caught at slip, to become the 18th victim of a remarkable day and Durham had reached 24 for 2 when bad light ended play. A further 235 is needed to win.
Rushworth has now taken 48 wickets in his last six Championship games stretching back to the end of last season and his new-ball burst from the pavilion end was that of a master craftsman making the most of ideal conditions.
Sunshine had been replaced by cloud and with the ball seaming on a dry surface the 28-year-old made hay, ripping out Middlesex’s top order in the space of 17 deliveries.
Rushworth had Nick Gubbins leg before offering no shot before picking up two wickets in his third over. Nick Compton’s sliced drive was brilliantly caught in the gully by the diving Calum MacLeod and skipper Adam Voges was lbw playing across the line two balls later.
Sam Robson, who made 178 in the first innings, became Rushworth’s fourth victim, beaten by late inswing for 17, before Hastings made a telling contribution of his own.
The Australian had James Franklin caught behind with his third ball and then claimed two wickets in his second over as John Simpson was taken low down at third slip before Ollie Rayner lost his off stump playing no shot.
Middlesex had lost six wickets for 15 runs at that stage and although Neil Dexter and Harris got through to tea they were parted in the second over after the resumption when Paul Collingwood held on at slip off a thick edge from Dexter to give Hastings’ his fourth wicket.
Rushworth completed his five-for and claimed his 21st wicket of the season as Harris, aiming through leg, was caught in the gully off a leading edge.
Murtagh hobbled out with Simpson as his runner and went on the offensive while Finn played his part to frustrate Durham for six overs until Hastings switched to the pavilion end and pinned Finn with the second ball of his new spell.
Earlier, Jennings had just missed out on a century when his patient five-hour vigil ended on 98, caught at slip to become the first of two victims for Voges’ left-arm spin.
Harris mopped up the tail to finish with 4 for 69 as Durham lost their last six first-innings wickets for 75.
STUMPS, DAY TWO. Durham (157-4; Jennings 61*) trail Middlesex (463 all out; Robson 178, Simpson 58, Voges 57, Compton 50, Hastings 4-87) by 306 runs with six first innings wickets remaining.
Points – Middlesex 4, Durham 2.
Keaton Jennings hit 61 not out to keep Middlesex at bay as the visitors reached 157 for four at stumps on the second day of the LV= County Championship Division One match at Lord’s.
The South African-born opener held together Durham’s top order in reply to Middlesex’s challenging first innings total of 463.
Jennings said: “The new ball poses a big challenge and they struck up front and got a couple more later.
“Going into tomorrow we need to get a partnership going and take the game to them a bit and with the ball getting old that will happen.
“Big runs are on the board and we need to bat properly and get as much as we can.
“We’ve got to make sure we get through the first hour tomorrow because they’ll come out fighting and if we can get through it hopefully we can make the most of it later in the day.”
Jennings initially helped Durham’s reply to get off to a promising start but Mark Stoneman then fell for 21 soon after tea, nicking James Harris to second slip.
A disappointment for Durham, at the end of day two, will be that each of the four batsmen to fall all got a start, with Scott Borthwick next to go as he attempted a late cut to James Franklin’s second ball but instead nicked through to the keeper for 26.
Having run manfully into a head-on wind from the Nursery End in his opening spell, Harris was switched to the Pavilion End where a good line and length found the edge of Michael Richardson’s forward defence with the batsman on 26.
Harris, the former Glamorgan seamer, may well have been set to bowl with the wind as first change but was pressed into the opening attack after Tim Murtagh pulled up with discomfort in his hamstring two balls into the opening over of the Durham first innings.
Middlesex officials report that the problem will be assessed again tomorrow and with a one-day international for Ireland against England in store on Friday, Murtagh, who limped out of last week’s Midldesex match at Somerset with a sore upper back, must hope the hamstring responds quickly to treatment.
Durham appeared to have steadied things once more as they headed towards the close but Calum MacLeod was unlucky to inside edge on to his stumps as he was bowled by Steven Finn in the penultimate over of the day for 13.
The morning session had been edged by the hosts as they recovered from the early losses of Franklin and nightwatchman Harris – who both fell to John Hastings (4-87). Neil Dexter and John Simpson saw things through to lunch, which had been put back to 1.15pm after the start was delayed by 50 minutes due to persistent drizzle.
Hastings struck again to remove Dexter, caught at long leg attempting a hook on 33, bringing an end to a partnership of 58 for the seventh wicket. Ollie Rayner then appeared to have played himself in before he missed a full delivery from Chris Rushworth and was trapped leg-before for 16.
Simpson pressed on to register his first fifty of the summer but with support in short supply at the other end, after Murtagh was bowled missing a pull off Borthwick, he was last to go for 58 – handing Hastings his fourth wicket with a misjudged loft to mid off.
STUMPS, DAY ONE. Middlesex (329-4; Robson 178, Voges 57, Compton 50) lead Durham by 329 runs with six first innings wickets remaining.
Points – Middlesex 3, Durham 1.
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The day after Jonathan Trott’s latest failure reopened the England opener debate, his predecessor Sam Robson staked his claim with an outstanding 178 as Middlesex dominated Durham on the first day of their LV County Championship match at Lord’s.
The 25-year-old played seven Tests last summer, averaging 30.54, but was overlooked for the series in West Indies.
With Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth ignored in the Caribbean and Trott enduring his third duck of the series in the third Test in Barbados the debate as to who should partner Alastair Cook this summer is back on the agenda.
So Robson’s first hundred since his 127 against Sri Lanka at Headingley last June could not have been better timed while another potential candidate Nick Compton, who played the last of his nine Tests two years ago, put his name in the frame with 50 as Middlesex reached 329 for four after being put in by a Durham side who have won both their opening games in Division One.
Compton played well in a second-wicket stand of 113 but this was Robson’s day. He was utterly dominant against a Durham attack which missed the penetration provided by Graham Onions, who was nursing a sore knee.
Chris Rushworth said: “It looked a good toss to win. There was good carry early on and the overhead conditions with the cloud cover seemed perfect for bowling.
“But it ended up playing very well. There wasn’t any pace in the pitch and they have a formidable batting line up.
“Sam Robson played really well so credit to him. He looked solid all day and it was good to get him out near the end.
“Hopefully we can take a few quick wickets tomorrow and swing the game back our way.”
Robson and Nick Gubbins survived a testing first hour on a green-tinged pitch offering good pace. Gubbins (23) was taken in the slips driving loosely at the fourth ball from Onions’ replacement Paul Coughlin but Robson, whose previous six first-class innings this season had yielded just 81 runs, settled down with Compton to put their side in control after lunch.
He timed the ball impeccably throughout. His driving in the arc between mid on and mid off was particularly impressive and when the Durham seamers dropped short he pulled and cut powerfully as he moved to the 14th first-class hundred of his career off 205 balls with 15 fours.
He lost Compton shortly afterwards when Scott Borthwick forced him to play on for 50 but skipper Adam Voges ensured Middlesex did not lose momentum as he and Robson built an impressive third-wicket alliance of 127 in 33 overs either side of tea.
Voges offered a chance on 38 cutting at Borthwick, but Paul Collingwood failed to hold on at slip and the new ball brought Durham little respite as Voges brought up the 100 partnership by chopping Rushworth over gully for four.
Robson belted Usman Arshad through the off side for successive boundaries to bring up Middlesex’s 300 before Rushworth ended the stand when he had Voges lbw padding up to a straight one for 57, made off 91 balls with eight fours.
Robson offered a chance on 172 when Borthwick put him down off Coughlin at second slip but the same pair combined to dismiss him in the penultimate over off a tired-looking drive, ending a six-hour innings that spanned 300 balls and included 20 fours.