MATCH RESULT - DURHAM WIN BY 44 RUNS
Durham 147 all out & 191 all out - 19 points
Middlesex 143 all out & 151 all out - 3 points
Carse produced a career-best six-wicket haul as Durham beat Middlesex by 44 runs at Lord’s.
The South-African born seamer took 6-26 including a match-winning post-lunch burst of 5-9 as Durham bowled out the hosts for 151 on the third afternoon.
Victory keeps alive Durham chances of promotion, while defeat for Middlesex means they will spend a third successive season in Division 2 in 2020.
Middlesex began the day needing 175 more to win, but it didn’t take long for their chase to hit a bend in the road.
Nick Gubbins hit two early fours, but his stay was an all-too brief one as he nicked the 16th ball of the day bowled by Carse into the hands of Alex Lees at slip.
Stephen Eskinazi lasted just three balls before becoming Chris Rushworth’s 61st victim of the season, trapped LBW after only getting half forward.
And when the home side’s skipper and batting talisman Dawid Malan followed shortly afterwards LBW to Ben Raine, they were 45-3.
In contrast to his playing partners, Sam Robson (65) played with increasing authority, producing trademark square cuts and some beautiful on-drives in reaching 50 off 87 balls with 10 fours, the fifth time he had passed the landmark in Championship cricket this summer.
Max Holden, despite struggling to find any touch, provided valuable support in a stand of 54 before Raine returned to pin him in front shortly before lunch.
And when Rushworth ended Robson’s vigil with just the fourth ball after the resumption, the hosts were struggling again at 107-5.
Under clear skies, a sharp contrast to much of the rest of the match, batting should have been an easier proposition. But Carse struck twice in the space of three balls, first finding the edge of George Scott’s bat to give Ned Eckersley another catch, before removing the normally obdurate James Harris second ball for nought.
Debutante Miguel Cummins had shown some batting promise in the first innings but he too came under Carse’s spell, a Yorker ending his brief stay.
The five-for came when Simpson, Middlesex’s last hope of unlikely salvation, also had his furniture disturbed.
And the wicket which sealed the career-best brought victory when last man Tim Murtagh missed with a big slog, sending his stumps awry.
Match updates provided by ECB Reporters Network.
LUNCH - DAY THREE
Durham 147 all out & 191 all out
Middlesex 143 all out & 106/4
Sam Robson passed 50 for the fifth time this season to keep Middlesex’s hopes of victory alive on the third morning of their Specsavers County Championship match with Durham at Lord’s.
Robson (65 not out) struck 10 fours in reaching the landmark in 87 balls to emulate his brother Angus’ half century for the visitors 24 hours earlier.
However, Ben Raine (2-22) added two more wickets to his five from the first innings to send the Seaxes to lunch 106-4 still 90 short of the 196 required.
Middlesex, 21-0 overnight, were soon in trouble, Nick Gubbins edging a Brydon Carse delivery into the hands of Alex Lees at slip.
Stephen Eskinazi lasted just three balls before Chris Rushworth trapped him in front to claim his 61st wicket of the campaign.
And when Raine struck for the first time to claim the prize scalp of Dawid Malan, the hosts had slumped to 45-3.
Robson dominated a half century stand with Max Holden before Raine returned to remove the latter shortly before the interval.
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STUMPS - DAY TWO
Durham 147 all out & 191 all out
Middlesex 143 all out & 21/0
Angus Robson’s first Durham half-century enabled the visitors to set Middlesex a tricky target of 196 for victory in their low-scoring County Championship clash at Lord’s.
Robson – the younger brother of Middlesex opener Sam – is making only his second appearance for Durham after impressing in their second XI earlier this summer.
The 27-year-old’s gritty knock of 64 from 156 deliveries anchored Durham’s second innings as they posted 191 all out to set up the prospect of a fascinating finish on the third day.
The elder Robson, along with Nick Gubbins, shaved 21 off the target during the five overs they faced before bad light ended play – but, with cloud cover expected again on Thursday, the bowlers may yet have the final word.
Middlesex began the day 60 runs in arrears at 87-7 and initially adopted a strategy of pure survival as James Harris and Miguel Cummins gradually reduced the deficit.
However, that changed after Ben Raine captured the wicket of Harris (14), with Cummins starting to play his shots and taking three boundaries from a single Chris Rushworth over.
Steven Finn added 11 before Raine (5-26) clipped the leg stump to complete his third five-for of the season, but Cummins (22no) and Tim Murtagh (14) took their side to within four of Durham’s first-innings 147.
Rushworth (3-54) eventually ended the Middlesex resistance by having Murtagh caught at backward point and then it was the turn of Durham’s batsmen to toil against the swinging ball.
Alex Lees and Cameron Steel did not seem overly troubled as they accelerated after lunch, with the latter unafraid to go for his shots in an opening partnership of 51.
The end of their stand was self-inflicted, with Lees (13) run out by Murtagh’s throw from mid-wicket after a chaotic mix-up and – as they had done in the first innings – Durham’s batting line-up wilted.
Cummins, who consistently beat the bat from the Pavilion End, got one to move away from Steel (39) and take a faint edge through to John Simpson.
Harris accounted for Peter Handscomb, leg before for three, and Durham were suddenly in difficulties at 80-4 when Gareth Harte (0) drifted across to be pinned in front of the stumps by Finn.
But Robson and Championship debutant Scott Steel – no relation to Cameron – regrouped with a partnership of 47, dominated by the latter as he raced to 39 before chipping Murtagh to mid-wicket.
Harris (3-43) claimed two more lbw victims by nipping the ball back to remove Ned Eckersley (2) and Brydon Carse (0), but Robson inched towards his half-century after almost three and a half hours.
It was Finn (3-49) who finally wrapped up Durham’s innings, with Robson’s the final wicket to fall after Max Holden’s juggling act on the boundary – leaving Middlesex an awkward spell to negotiate before the close.
Gubbins began the chase by driving Rushworth’s first two deliveries to the boundary as he and Robson reached 21-0, with Middlesex requiring another 175 to win.
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TEA - DAY TWO
Durham 147 all out & 94/4
Middlesex 143 all out
Durham suffered their second batting slump of the game as they reached 94-4 at tea on day two, leading Middlesex by 98 runs.
Opening pair Cameron Steel and Alex Lees posted a half-century partnership – as they had done on the first day – before four wickets fell for 29.
But the stand ended in untidy fashion when Lees (13) pushed a ball from Steven Finn to mid-wicket, set off and was sent back by his partner, leaving him stranded when Tim Murtagh’s throw reached the wicketkeeper.
Steel looked strong off his pads, clipping Miguel Cummins for successive fours to reach 39, but the West Indies seamer eventually got his man with a ball that moved away and found a thin edge.
Finn and James Harris then picked up a wicket apiece before the interval to help keep the match in the balance.
Earlier in the day, Cummins had led a fightback by the Middlesex tail with some assured hitting as they closed to within four runs of Durham’s first-innings 147.
The home side, who began the day 60 runs adrift, soon lost Harris (14) but Cummins then opened up, striking Chris Rushworth for a trio of boundaries in one over to finish with an unbeaten 22.
Finn (11) followed suit, dispatching Nathan Rimmington to the boundary with two crisp cover drives before he was bowled taking a swing at Ben Raine (5-26).
Murtagh (14) was the last man to depart, slicing Rushworth to backward point as the home side totalled 143.
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LUNCH - DAY TWO
Durham 147 all out & 8/0
Middlesex 143 all out
Ben Raine completed his third five-wicket haul of the season as Durham secured a wafer-thin lead on the second morning of their County Championship clash with Middlesex.
Raine returned 5-26 as the home side were bowled out for 143 at Lord’s – although the tail wagged sufficiently to reduce the deficit to just four, with Durham reaching 8-0 second time around by lunch.
Resuming on 87-7, Middlesex’s hopes of getting close to their opponents’ first innings score appeared to diminish when James Harris (14) saw his off stump knocked back by Raine.
Having scored just a single from his first 29 balls, Miguel Cummins (22no) switched tactics, taking on Chris Rushworth and hitting him for three boundaries in an over.
Steven Finn (11) and Tim Murtagh (14) gave Cummins spirited support as Middlesex added a valuable 46 runs for the last two wickets to raise their total to 143.
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STUMPS - DAY ONE
Durham 147 all out
Middlesex 87/7
Ben Raine and Steven Finn led the clatter of wickets as bowlers ran amok on the first day of the Specsavers County Championship clash between Middlesex and Durham at Lord’s.
Former England Test star Finn, bowled with real pace and aggression to bundle the visitors out for 147, only for Raine to respond with 3-12 to leave Middlesex’s reply in tatters at 87-7, still 60 in arrears.
Australian Test star Peter Hanscomb showed runs could be made with a fluent half century for Durham, but his innings apart, this September pitch proved a graveyard for batsmen.
For more than an hour, Middlesex skipper Dawid Malan would have been questioning his decision to bowl first after winning the toss as Cameron Steel and Alex Lees looked untroubled against the new-ball.
Steel in particular was in fluent form, stroking a glorious cover drive off Seaxes’ debutant Miguel Cummins before riding a lifting ball from Steven Finn to square cut it to the fence.
However, James Harris trapping of Lees (26) LBW in an impressive opening spell signalled the start of the bowlers’ dominance.
Just six balls later, Finn bowled Steel (29) off an inside edge and when Cummins claimed Angus Robson caught at slip for a duck from the first ball of his second spell, three wickets had fallen for three runs in 27 deliveries.
And Tim Murtagh (3-32) made the visitors’ lunch all the more indigestible when he found the edge of Gareth Harte’s bat to give wicketkeeper John Simpson his first catch of the innings from the last ball before the interval.
The trend was set and wickets continued to tumble on the resumption.
Murtagh, by now in his familiar groove from the Nursery End trapped Scott Steel LBW and Finn followed suit to send Durham skipper Ned Eckersley on his way. Harris accounted then accounted for Raine courtesy of a stunning catch by Sam Robson And Brydon Carse nicked Finn through to Simpson.
Hanscomb (54) looked a class above all else on show, standing firm to reach 50 in 66 balls with nine fours. Murtagh though retuned to castle him as the last three wickets fell for no addition to the score.
Any celebrations in the home dressing room would be short-lived however as Nick Gubbins fell LBW to Carse without a run on the board.
Eskinazi rode his luck to make 24 before Nathan Rimmington spread-eagled his stumps and then it was time for Rushworth.
He accounted for Robson with a beauty which committed the batsman to the shot, the ball taking the edge for Eckersley to pouch the catch.
His second scalp proved the better bowler you are the luckier you get as Max Holden, back in Middlesex ranks for the first time in four Championship games, flicked a ball crisply off his legs, but straight to Harte at square leg.
Another returnee for the hosts George Scott didn’t last long, bowled by a beauty from Raine, who then picked up Simpson three balls later LBW for a duck.
And the medium pacer then struck the most telling blow of all when his LBW shout against Malan (24) was upheld. His trio of scalps had come in just 11 balls.
Only the intervention of bad light seven balls later prevented further carnage on a joyous day for bowlers.
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TEA - DAY ONE
Durham 147 all out
Steven Finn led the charge for wickets as Middlesex bowled out Durham in less than two sessions on day one of their Specsavers County Championship clash at Lord’s.
The former England paceman returned figures of 4-41 to bundle the visitors out for 147 after Middlesex skipper Dawid Malan won the toss and chose to field.
Peter Hanscomb provided the only resistance with a fluent half century before becoming one of three victims for Tim Murtagh (3-32).
James Harris chipped in with two scalps and there was a wicket on debut for West Indies quick Miguel Cummins.
There had been little sign of the carnage to follow when Alex Lees and Cameron Steel put on 56 for the first wicket in little over an hour in the morning session.
However, James Harris trapped Lees LBW for 26 to spark a collapse during which three wickets fell in 27 balls for just three runs.
Finn began his haul by bowling Steel off the inside edge for 29, before Cummmins struck with the first ball of his second spell when Angus Fraser edged to Stevie Eskinazi at slip.
And the hosts concluded a successful morning when Murtagh had Gareth Harte caught by Simpson off the final ball before the interval.
The Irish international struck again soon afterwards pinning Scott Steel in front and when Finn trapped Ned Eckersley it was 107-6.
Hanscomb stood firm to reach 50 in 66 balls before being ninth out as the final three wickets fell without addition to the score.
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LUNCH - DAY ONE
Durham - 80/4
Cummins picked up a wicket on debut as Middlesex enjoyed the better of the first morning against Durham at Lord’s.
The West Indies Test quick, signed on a short-term deal this week, struck with the first ball of his second spell when finding the edge of Angus Robson’s bat for Stevie Eskinazi to take a low catch at first slip.
Robson was the third wicket to tumble in the space of 27 balls for just three runs as the visitors stumbled to 80-4 at lunch.
There had been little sign of these alarms in the first hour of play after Durham, having elected to toss, were put in by Middlesex skipper Dawid Malan.
Alex Lees and Cameron Steele promptly raised a 50 stand in 91 balls with the latter looking especially fluent.
It was James Harris who made the breakthrough trapping Lees (26) LBW, before Steven Finn removed Steele (29) in the following over bowled off the inside edge.
And after Cummins removed Robson, Tim Murtagh struck a fourth blow having Gareth Hart caught by John Simpson off the last ball before lunch.
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Middlesex
Durham
