Nottinghamshire’s bowlers enjoyed the better of things on the second day of the LV= County Championship match against Middlesex at Lord’s.
After Notts had been dismissed for 298 in their first innings, they altered the momentum of the match by producing an inspired performance with the ball to remove the hosts for 181 and gain a lead of 117. By stumps that advantage had been stretched to 218 as the visitors closed on 101 for two.
Samit Patel returned the leading bowling figures, ending with three for 30, with Harry Gurney taking three for 50.
Jake Ball picked up two of the other wickets to fall, including the prized scalp of Sam Robson, straight after lunch.
“We had a set plan for him,” he said. “And know he likes to leave it quite tight, so it was nice to get one to come back up the hill and knock his off pole over.
“It’s always a nice feeling to see a stump go cartwheeeling out of the ground and it got us going in that second session and set the tone for us for the rest of the day.”
The seamer also spoke of his pride at being asked to open the bowling. “It was an unbelievable feeling to open the bowling at Lord’s with Vernon Philander. It’s a dream come true to bowl with a new nut and share it with such a fine international bowler as him.
“We’re in a great position now and just need to kick on in the morning and stamp our advantage before trying to get a few poles late on in the day.”
Middlesex had been struck a blow overnight with the news that Dawid Malan had broken a finger, whilst fielding on the first day, and wouldn’t be able to bat.
He looked on as the opening pairing added 51 before being parted. Gurney, from the Pavilion End, made the initial breakthrough, sending Nick Gubbins' off stump cartwheeling out of the ground for 23.
Philander bowled four tidy overs at the start of the innings but then left the field of play, accompanied by physio Jon Alty. Thankfully he returned after a few minutes and picked up his first wicket for the county just before lunch.
Nick Compton, boasting an average of around 65 against Notts, was undone by a real corker of a delivery which came back up the slope a touch with enough force to split a bail in half.
The mood-swing towards Notts continued immediately upon the resumption when Robson misjudged that delivery from Ball and offered no defence as it crashed into his stumps.
Gurney then produced a delivery that kept a touch low to trap Adam Voges lbw for 29 before Ball got his second as Patel hung on to a sharp catch at slip to send back Paul Stirling for 11.
That catch was Patel’s 100th in first class cricket and he soon had another milestone as the afternoon session swung firmly towards the visitors.
With the follow-on mark of 149 still a couple of runs away, Patel trapped James Harris, 16, and Tom Helm, 0, both lbw. His first wicket was his 200th for the county.
Tim Murtagh saved the follow-on, but the home side were soon eight wickets down as John Simpson went for a gutsy knock of 35 after edging Gurney to Riki Wessels at slip.
A well-judged boundary catch by Brendan Taylor ended the innings, as Patel removed Murtagh for 19 to get his third wicket.
For the second time in the match Steven Mullaney and Brendan Taylor gave Notts a solid base with an opening stand which sailed beyond the 50 mark.
Mullaney, in particular, went hard at the home attack, repeatedly driving the ball to the cover boundary. He moved to 44 by pulling Helm for 6 into the base of the Mound Stand but was then bowled by the same man.
Brendan Taylor’s fine run of scores ended on 34 when he hit Murtagh to deepish mid off and into the hands of Finn, leaving Alex Hales and nightwatchman Will Gidman to see it through to the close.
Earlier, it took only two deliveries to polish off the Nottinghamshire first innings as Gurney drove Steven Finn to point, where sub fielder Ryan Higgins took a routine catch.
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.