A resolute half-century by Max Holden, his second of the match, prevented Durham’s third consecutive County Championship Division Two victory as Middlesex battled to safe a draw at Lord’s.
Holden completed unbeaten on 77, sharing a key partnership of 82 with Ben Geddes (26) for the fourth wicket after the house facet, 137 in arrears on the primary innings, had slumped to 53-3.
Matthew Potts and Callum Parkinson’s stand of 71 – a Durham document for the ninth wicket towards Middlesex – enabled the guests to publish 567 of their first innings earlier than seamer Ben Raine adopted up his earlier five-wicket haul with 3-23.
However Holden did sufficient to haul Middlesex in the direction of security earlier than the competition was curtailed by dangerous mild, guaranteeing the draw which was however sufficient to propel Durham to the highest of the Division Two desk.
Durham’s first-innings benefit stood at precisely 100 when play resumed within the morning and Potts (38) and Parkinson (28) launched into a spirited half-hour thrash to stretch that by one other 37 earlier than the guests had been bowled out.
Parkinson threw the bat, selecting up a trio of leg-side boundaries off Sebastian Morgan earlier than he tried to scamper a bye and Joe Cracknell’s fast response throw left Potts wanting his floor.
Two balls later, Cracknell gathered a top-edged swing from Parkinson to wrap up the innings and provides Middlesex a doubtlessly tough 88 overs to outlive, with the floodlights on in gloomy overhead situations.
Their job was made tougher by the early departures of each openers, with Raine’s outswinger taking the sting of Sam Robson’s bat earlier than Potts received a ball to climb viciously on Josh de Caires, who may solely fend it by way of to Ollie Robinson.
Holden and captain Leus du Plooy dug in, however Raine inflicted an extra blow on the hosts previous to lunch, switching to the Pavilion Finish and going across the wicket to have the skipper caught behind for 15.
Seamer Luke Robinson, making his red-ball debut as an damage alternative for Kemar Roach, delivered a full of life spell after the interval, slanting the ball throughout Holden to beat his exterior edge greater than as soon as.
However the left-hander saved his composure and superior to 50 for the second time within the sport by swatting a Potts bouncer to the grandstand fence, whereas Geddes’ sound defence repelled Parkinson on the different finish.
The pair had whittled the deficit down to only two runs when Raine struck once more, drawing a faint edge from Geddes for Ollie Robinson to say his fourth dismissal of the innings and preserve stress on Middlesex.
Nevertheless, with the sunshine deteriorating, Durham had been pressured to function an all-spin assault within the run-up to tea, with Parkinson complemented by Ben McKinney’s off-breaks as the house facet edged right into a slender lead.
Yet one more over was bowled after the interval earlier than umpires Ant Harris and Martin Saggers took the gamers off, with the match deserted quarter-hour later.
Report by ECB Reporters’ Community, supported by Rothesay.
