MIDDLEBROOK'S
HUNDRED GIVES NORTHANTS THE EDGE by Marcus Hook
Surrey 322 & 182-4 v Northamptonshire 376.
At various stages in this match one side has got
their noses in front, only to let their advantage slip. Going into
the final day honours are, once again, pretty much even. Surrey are
128 runs ahead with six second innings wickets intact. Had it not
been for a splendid hundred from James Middlebrook, or, for that
matter, the departure of Rory Hamilton-Brown fifteen minutes before
the close, the Oval outfit might now be entertaining thoughts of
victory. The pitch is starting to show signs of wear, but it is by
no means a terror track, which makes the draw the most likely
outcome - but you never know.
Responding to a first innings deficit of 54, Gary
Wilson and Michael Brown put on 90 in 32 overs for the first wicket.
Wilson was given a life, on 10, when he offered Niall O'Brien a
difficult caught behind chance; low to the left of his fellow
Irishman.
Eight overs later, Wilson hit successive fours
either side of the wicket off Lee Daggett before cutting James
Middlebrook's off-spin to the backward point boundary. Brown then
came out of his shell, driving David Lucas straight up the ground
for four before despatching Andrew Hall's first delivery to the
fence at mid-wicket and repeating the dose four balls later.
It was just beginning to look as though Wilson and
Brown would register Surrey's first three-figure opening partnership
in the championship since August 2009 when Daggett went to 100
first-class wickets - Brown chasing a wide delivery to depart for
46.
Shortly after tea Wilson became Rob White's first
scalp in nearly four years when, playing back and attempting to work
to leg, he failed to pick the googly. Before opening his account,
Steven Davies was dropped by O'Brien off the bowling of White, but
the lapse was to go unpunished.
In the 42nd over, Daggett had Davies caught at
cover point off a leading edge, and with White growing in confidence
Zander de Bruyn and Rory Hamilton-Brown had to play themselves in
watchfully.
Hamilton-Brown followed up his 74 on the opening
day with an equally attractive 41. The Surrey captain despatched
Middlebrook's first ball after tea to the rope at extra cover and,
two overs later, slog swept the former Yorkshire and Essex man for
four.
De Bruyn played second fiddle, happily working the
ball into the gaps when the opportunity presented itself. But the
efforts of the fourth wicket pair were undone when Hamilton-Brown
chopped Chaminda Vaas on to his stumps, shortly after calling for a
drink to dislodge a fly that had become lodged in his throat.
Earlier, the fourth ball of the day saw
Middlebrook bring his fifty up in 105 deliveries. Ten overs later,
Middlebrook took his side past Surrey's 322 with a bottom-edged pull
for four off Stuart Meaker, which he followed up by despatching
Gareth Batty to the rope at mid-wicket. But, six overs later, Batty
drew a line under Hall and Middlebrook's magnificent 179-run eighth
wicket alliance when he had the Northants skipper lbw lunging
forward.
That left Meaker to wrap up the visitors by
beating Lucas for pace and then extracting Middlebrook's off peg,
though not before the 33-year-old had brought up the fifth
first-class century of his 13-year career with a twelfth boundary.
It had taken him 189 balls in four and a half hours.
GO TO:
BACK TO:
|