Middlesex 234 (Malan 93, Magoffin 4-48) and 47 for 0 trail Sussex 300 (Machan 81, Yardy 70, Patel 4-42) by 19 runs
Scorecard
It was quite fitting that, with England sealing a Test match victory with two days to spare, Middlesex and Sussex took the opportunity to fashion what is set to be a thrilling climax at Lord's to fill the spare time. Not only are there international class combatants on both sides, but the match is being played out on a pitch that, two days in, has benefitted neither one side nor the other.
The morning's play hinted that the surfaced had flattened, only for a middle-order collapse instigated by Ravi Patel and a gritty retaliation from Michael Yardy to display the rate at which this pitch is changing.
Matt Machan got the day going with a straight drive off Tim Murtagh: the ball booming off his bat to wake up any who thought this might be a tranquil start. Machan would continue to disturb the peace as the aggressor in a valuable 134-run partnership with opener Luke Wells, who had begun the day 14 ahead of the Scotland international.
While Luke Wells used all his opening tricks to push gaps and wait for the bad ball, Machan was happy to force the issue, overtaking Wells with some controlled slashes on the front and back-foot and, most notably, fetching Ollie Rayner from outside off-stump and planting him over long-on for one of two sixes against the off-spinner. Even the usually economical Murtagh found himself nursing some expensive figures in the first session, as Machan took 37 off the 29 deliveries he faced from the seamer. By the time Wells had reached his fifty, Machan was already on 81, as Middlesex started to look a big ragged. Unfortunately, for the Sussex number three, that would be where his innings ended as Patel's left-arm orthodox spin instigated the start of some payback.
Just when it looked like the visitors were to make it through the first session unscathed, Patel coaxed a drive out of Machan and spun the ball up the slope, through bat and pad, to disturb the stumps, just seven minutes before lunch. A minute after the interval - five balls on the scorer's watch - he produced an arm-ball that took the outside edge of Wells' bat to skipper James Franklin at first slip.
As a spinner who primarily enjoys success (and opportunities) with the white ball, Patel's ability to build pressure, along with his appreciation that he will be attacked, allowed him to bowl 17 overs in a row from the Pavilion End. That he only found out he would be playing for Middlesex in this fixture the day before, while preparing to take on Surrey at Colchester for his loan side Essex, gives an indication at just how difficult it is to fluster this 24-year-old.
It was an execution of the above skills that enabled him to snare Chris Nash. And, while the fielders backed him up well, it was a surprise when Nash miscued to Toby Roland-Jones, running back from mid-on. Three overs beforehand, Nash had effortlessly come down the pitch and flicked Patel over mid-wicket for four and a similar result looked on the cards when he began a second jaunt down the pitch this time. It was not to be and Nash departed for a breezy 22.
His wicket was the first of three to fall in a collapse across 10.1overs that saw just 17 runs scored. Luke Wright was next to fall, taking 22 balls to get off the mark and then, in an attempt to pull his 26th, played Murtagh onto his stumps. Ben Brown then found Ollie Rayner at cover to give Patel his fourth wicket of the innings, before Yardy steadied the ship and set a course for a lead. By the time his innings had finished - 70 off 148 balls, his highest score of the season - he had dragged his side to a lead of 62.
Last month, Yardy has announced that he will retire at the end of the season and his indifferent form this season suggests it was the right decision. But his knack of getting the Middlesex seamers to bowl where he wanted, coupled with his rotation of the strike, particularly with Ashar Zaidi and Ollie Robinson, was the work of an experienced pro.
When the Sussex innings came to a close, with three batting points secured, the first innings lead stood at a handy 66. By close, Sam Robson - with the help of six runs shared evenly between Nick Gubbins and extras - ensured the deficit had been cut to 19.
Robson worked six boundaries in his 41, which included an effortless back-cut for four to the last ball of the day, before he turned around and walked off to the pavilion, with Gubbins not far behind him. It was the usually more expansive of the two, Gubbins, who decided to leave his attacking shots for the morning, though he did receive a nasty blow on the knuckles of his top hand from a sharp ball delivered by Chris Liddle.
That delivery, along with a few grubbers that had batsmen bent over double trying to keep out, suggests that there is a good chance we will see both sides bat tomorrow. This match has more than a whiff of a domestic classic.
