County Championship 2022 | Toby Roland-Jones helps Middlesex tighten grip over Durham

The Day 3 of the County Championship 2022 Division Two fixture witnessed the visitors running out of luck in the final session on account of the brilliance of Toby Roland-Jones at Lord's. 

The day's proceedings started with Middlesex at 88/2 and Josh de Caires and Sam Robson at the crease. 

Their partnership could last only six overs in the morning session, as Caires tried to flash his blade on a widish delivery of Stokes, which caught an edge and was caught by the wicket-keeper Ned Eckersley. 

Captain Peter Handscomb displayed fine resistance but misjudged the swing of Ben Raine, which caressed the leg-stump for 14. Then arrived talented youngster Max Holden, who proved to be strong support for the opener Robson.

The duo switched a 63-run stand between them before Raine delivered a peach of a delivery to induce the edge of Robson (84). After his dismissal, the wicket-keeper John Simpson and Holden stitched another vital partnership, further building a platform to get closer to the opposition's score. 

A stand of 84-run between the duo was broken by Rushworth, with Holden (71) playing a nothing shot which Eckersley caught. 

The subsequent batters, Luke Hollman (41) and Martin Andersson (62) played terrific knocks to help the team in getting past the opposition's score, and Toby Roland-Jones (21) provided further momentum. Finally, the team was dismissed for 422 and took a lead of 72 runs. 

Durham had a bad start with the openers Alex Lees and Michael Jones by giving away their wickets to Roland-Jones in the second over. A few overs later, Protea batter Keegan Petersen was adjudged LBW off Jones. 

At the end of Day 3, Scott Borthwick and Matt Salisbury marked their presence at the crease, with Durham at 25/3. It will be interesting to see if Durham manages to keep their composure and play out the entire day to save the fixture. 

Brief Scores: 

Durham 2nd Innings: 25/3 

Scott Borthwick 13*, Keegan Petersen 5

Toby Roland-Jones 3/7

Middlesex 1st Innings: 422/10

Max Holden 71, Sam Robson 84;

Ben Stokes 4/72, Chris Rushworth 3/60

Durham 1st Innings: 350/10

Liam Trevaskis (80*), Ned Eckersley (58);

Toby Roland Jones 4/72, Tim Murtagh 3/43