It’s still an uphill battle for county
A LAST-wicket stand of 58 between Toby Roland-Jones and Tim Murtagh left Derbyshire chasing an unlikely 334 to beat Middlesex at Lord’s.
Derbyshire were already up against it on day three of their LV County Championship match before the two Middlesex bowlers eclipsed their county’s 10th-wicket record against Derbyshire of 66, set three years ago, carrying the hosts to 256 all out.
Alex Thomson bowled nicely, often getting a fair bit of turn, to take 3-71.
Murtagh removed Luis Reece as Derbyshire edge to 42-1 in an absorbing last session truncated by bad light, still needing 292 to win.
At the start of the day, Ethan Bamber took Derbyshire’s last firstinnings wicket to record a careerbest 5-41.
Only five balls into the day and with four runs added, he had Sam Conners caught at mid-wicket by Martin Andersson.
Middlesex, leading by 77, made the worst possible start as Mark Stoneman, on debut and on a pair, shouldered arms to the first ball of the innings from Conners and lost his off-stump.
It was the cue for a frenetic second innings effort from the hosts, who constantly seemed in too much of a hurry to build on their advantage.
Stephen Eskinazi’s boundarysprinkled cameo ended with an ugly shot to be caught by a diving Anuj Dal at point, then first innings centurion Robbie White fished at a ball outside off stump from Ben Aitchison to be caught behind by Brook Guest for nought.
Sam Robson showed the way it should be done, leaving well outside off-stump and driving bad balls to the boundary on both sides of the wicket.
This mix of judgement and aggression took him to 50 in 55 balls with nine fours as he shared a half-century stand with Max Holden for the fourth wicket.
But, on 52, Robson suffered a rush of blood, charging off-spinner Thomson, who bowled him through the gate.
Holden and Martin Andersson each threatened to establish dominance only to fall for 44 and 41 respectively, the latter the second of two wickets in seven balls for Dal, who had Andersson leg before and
John Simpson caught behind.
Holden had been taken at slip off Thomson by Matt Critchley and Thomson also bowled Thilan Walallawita, while Critchley had Ethan Bamber caught behind.
At 198-9, Derbyshire could consider themselves back in the game, but Murtagh and Roland-Jones (33 not out) wrestled back control with a mix of good running and aggression.
The innings finally ended when Murtagh picked out Dal off Aitchison but a good deal of damage had been done.
Murtagh then removed Luis Reece for a duck via an edge through to Simpson and 46 balls passed before Derbyshire could get a run on the board with a crisp off-drive from Godleman.
Wood also finally got off the mark with a boundary as Middlesex piled up the appeals in a testing spell.
But the two batsmen came through and when Middlesex were forced to bowl spin after a delay for bad light, the Derbyshire pair helped themselves to a string of boundaries to get the runs required below 300 before a second interruption brought play to a close 11 overs early.
It remains a long road to either an unlikely victory or survival for Derbyshire on the last day but Dal has not given up their chances.
“I certainly hope we can win it,” he said.
“It was disappointing their last wicket partnership tailed on for a bit longer than we were hoping for.
“We were thinking 260-270 would give us a good shout to get a win. It didn’t quite happen and we’re chasing nearer 340 but the boys are feeling positive.
“It’s not ideal conditions for batting on any ground when the lights are on and it plays on the batters’ minds in the way it wouldn’t on a bright sunny day but the guys played well and it was good to see them get through the tough period.
“The wicket is getting better and better, so it should be a good day for us.”