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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