SURREY FAIL TO BUILD ON PLATFORM by Marcus Hook
Middlesex 256 v Surrey 161-5.With Neil Dexter
sparking a late clatter of wickets, the London derby could not be more
delicately poised going into day three. In reply to the hosts' 256 all
out, Surrey ground out 148-2 before slipping
to 153-5 in the space of eight overs.
The Middlesex skipper prized out Mark Ramprakash and
followed it up with the wicket of Tom Maynard, though not before Toby
Roland-Jones had trapped Zander de Bruyn leg before. The visitors
ended the second day on 161 for five - 95 runs in arrears with a new
ball due in an over's time.
Surrey were given a solid start by Jacques Rudolph
and Steven Davies, who joined forces for two hours overs either side
of lunch. But following much playing and
missing, the left-handed pair gradually got on top of the Middlesex
attack.
After Rudolph brought up the fifty stand, Davies cut
and on drove Roland-Jones for four. In the 32nd over, the 24-year-old
seamer was driven straight down the ground by Rudolph, who then worked
the next ball off his hip to the fence at deep square leg.
But the
introduction of Ollie Rayner's off-spin produced the breakthrough the
North Londoners had been crying out for. Having played diligently to
reach 45, Rudolph danced down the pitch. Rayner saw him coming,
adjusted his line and John Simpson performed the honours.
The visitors were 109-1 at tea, but that soon became
117-2 when Davies nibbled at Corey Collymore. The Surrey stumper faced
141 balls for his 62, the value of which was underlined when Mark
Ramprakash and Zander de Bruyn, two seasoned campaigners, departed in
the space of four deliveries after eking out 31 at less than two an
over.
De Bruyn, making 200th first-class appearance,
pulled Gareth Berg for four prior to despatching Tim Murtagh through
mid-wicket to the long boundary on the Tavern side, though not before
Ramprakash had pulled his former Surrey team-mate for four. But, after
becoming bogged down, Ramprakash prodded forward tentatively to
Dexter. Four deliveries later, de Bruyn was also trudging off, having
been trapped in front by one that nipped back.
Just as it looked as if Hamilton-Brown and Maynard
would see their side through to stumps with no further mishaps, Dexter
struck again when Maynard edged low to first slip to make it 153-5.
Earlier in the day, resuming on 225-9, Malan and
Collymore added a further 31 runs in fourteen and a half overs to
secure Middlesex a second batting point. Dawid Malan played a number
of attractive cover drives before being caught down the leg side off
Chris Jordan for 88. In all, the 24-year-old left-hander had batted
for five hours, faced 228 deliveries and found the boundary on just
nine occasions.
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