Middlesex 196(Compton 71, Onions 7-68) and 280(Dexter 112, Rushworth 5-49); Durham 169(Muchall 64) and 134-5(Borthwick 68no).
Durham require 174 to win and have 5 wickets standing.
Points: Durham 3, Middlesex 3.
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Chris Rushworth re-wrote the county record books on the third day of the LV County Championship clash against Middlesex, but Durham face an uphill task if they are to secure a much-needed victory.
Paul Collingwood’s side require another 174 to win with five wickets in hand, but with Scott Borthwick still at the crease on 68 not out, there is still hope that Durham’s middle and lower order can steer them to success.
Durham are certainly underdogs, but if Borthwick can help negotiate his team-mates on day four, their target is still an achievable one.
Coach Jon Lewis told www.durhamccc.co.uk “We would have liked the target to have been less than 300-plus but the overhead conditions have changed a lot in this match. The conditions were definitely bowler-favourable in the first innings, but in the second it has not been as difficult for batsmen.
“We needed to get through the new ball, so two down early on wasn’t ideal, but we now need a bit of luck to get there.”
As for Rushworth’s achievement, Lewis was full of praise. “Chris has not done it just in one season but now over several and it is a testimony to his levels of fitness and consistency. It is a terrific record to have broken and his statistics speak for themselves.”
Rushworth passed Otis Gibson’s previous county record of 80 first class wickets in a season when he bowled Toby Roland-Jones in Middlesex’s second innings. No Englishman has managed a century of first class wickets in a summer since Andy Caddick in 1998, but with three LV County Championship matches left, it is plausible Rushworth could achieve a rare distinction.
The Dawid Malan-Neil Dexter partnership on Saturday had steered the visitors into a strong position and the pair added another 21 runs on Sunday morning before Graham Onions celebrated his ninth wicket of the match.
Malan, who was dropped on 0 off Onions’ bowling, edged a rising ball down the leg side to keeper Michael Richardson and was out for 63, having put on 110 for the fifth wicket.
Any thoughts that Middlesex might immediately fold were dispelled as Dexter carried on where he left off the previous day. A series of punishing shots in front of the wicket elevated Middlesex’s advantage as Dexter and Simpson put on 73 for the sixth wicket.
With the score at 212 and having raised his bat to a 13th first class ton, Dexter chased a wide-ish delivery from spinner Ryan Pringle and was smartly snapped up by keeper Richardson.
That wicket triggered a stunning min-collapse as Borthwick, brought on immediately at the Lumley end, enjoyed immediate success.
With Borthwick’s first ball keeper Simpson was LBW to a full toss and with his eighth he trapped Ollie Rayner in front of his stumps as 212-5 became 213-8.
Toby Roland-Jones was dropped by substitute fielder Stuart Poytner at 222-8, again off Onions and the visitors made Durham pay. Roland-Jones and his fellow seamer James Harris put on 60 in double quick time before Rushworth finally broke the partnership with a ball that nipped back, his 81st first class wicket of the season.
Rushworth had Harris dropped by James Weighell – a tough chance over his shoulder in blustery conditions, but a couple of balls later Harris nibbled and Paul Collingwood snapped him up at slip.
It was Rushworth’s 82nd first class wicket and the seventh time this season he has taken five in an innings – an outstanding record of consistency.
Middlesex’s 280 all out, having been 29-4, meant Durham required 308 to win, a tough ask.
In reply, Mark Stoneman crashed a drive through the covers from the first ball of the innings, but Graham Clark bagged a pair when he snicked to the keeper off his third ball, leaving Durham 6-1.
Stoneman went shortly afterwards as Murtagh appealed successfully for LBW and Durham were 14-2. Collingwood joined Borthwick and the third wicket pair moved the score on to 58 with seemingly few alarms, only for the Durham skipper to fall LBW to the ever-accurate Harris as umpire Neil Mallender found in the bowler’s favour.
Richardson cleverly guided a couple of boundaries down to third man before he too fell LBW, this time to Murtagh, for 13.
The wickets continued to fall with regularity as Gordon Muchall was also trapped in front of his stumps, adjudged LBW by umpire Tim Robinson off Roland-Jones, leaving Durham struggling at 113-5.
Borthwick looked in fine nick and at 68 not out overnight he is only 15 runs away from 1,000 LV County Championship runs for the season.
He and Ryan Pringle moved the score on to 134-5 before the umpires called stumps at 6.10pm.