Nottinghamshire were held at bay as their LV= County Championship match against Middlesex finished in a draw at Lord’s.
The home side managed to bat through the final day to close on 300 for seven, with former Notts’ batsman Adam Voges scoring 72 after Nick Compton had made 85.
Harry Gurney, with three for 69, had ignited visiting hopes by taking wickets in consecutive deliveries during mid-afternoon, but James Harris and Tim Murtagh held up the victory charge by batting through the final hour.
All in all, it was a frustrating outcome for Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket Mick Newell.
“I suppose the nature of the way Harris and Murtagh were able to bat for so long illustrates what a pretty decent pitch it was for batting on,” he said.
“It’s frustrating because we think we’ve dominated the match but we don’t go away with the win. That’s disappointing but, over the course of the four days, I think we’ve played some pretty good cricket to start the season.
“I’m very happy with the bowling unit and I’m pretty happy with the fielding as well. Over the course of the game we’ve been the better team in the field, we’ve bowled very well and we’ve batted with some positive intent, so I’ve no complaints from the performance other than we needed just that little bit more just to finish the game off.”
Extras dominated the opening half an hour of the day’s play, as both Middlesex batsmen set their stall out for a patient rearguard effort. Nick Gubbins actually went 10 overs before he added to his overnight 13, allowing Nick Compton to speed away from him.
Compton has regularly done well against Notts in the past and entered the match boasting an average of 65 against them. He added to his sequence of good scores by easing past 50 from a battling 140 deliveries, with 6 boundaries.
Chris Read rotated all six of his bowlers without success and it was looking as if the entire morning session would prove to be a barren one, when Samit Patel made the breakthrough, on the stroke of lunch, having Gubbins caught at short leg by Riki Wessels for 37.
Adam Voges joined Compton at the start of the afternoon and the pair continued to thwart the visiting attack for 45 minutes until an inspired over from Gurney lifted the spirits in the away dressing room.
Firstly Compton edged to first slip, where Wessels took his second catch of the day and then Paul Stirling followed, first ball, nicking to Patel at second slip.
Voges, who had arrived following a fine domestic season in Australia, converted his first 50 as Middlesex skipper from 66 balls, with 8 fours.
He dominated a fifth wicket stand of 57 with John Simpson, which was terminated soon after the second new ball had been taken.
Simpson, having scored just 11 of the runs made, chopped Jake Ball onto his stumps to breathe fresh life into the game from the Nottinghamshire perspective.
The early post-tea period involved Voges taking singles from the first ball of every over and Notts then attacking James Harris.
This happened for 5 overs but then the batsman unluckily became the latest to chop on, to scenes of great jubilation from the fielders and bowler Gurney.
Patel’s spin accounted for Tom Helm, lbw for 5, for the second time in the contest, but a rapid charge to the victory line was then halted by stoic resistance from Harris and Murtagh who blocked their way until the end.
Middlesex take 8 points from the match, while Nottinghamshire collect 10 points and face county champions Yorkshire next, in a match which begins at Trent Bridge on Sunday.
The excitement of the NatWest T20 Blast returns to Trent Bridge in May as Notts Outlaws hope to break the 10,000 barrier for the arrival of reigning champions Birmingham Bears on Friday 15 May.
Adult tickets are available at a special price of £10 and further discounts in place for under 16s (£5), under21s (£7) and senior citizens (£7) when buying in advance. Make Trent Bridge a firm fixture for your Friday nights and secure your seats now.