As Surrey piled up 568 against their North London rivals at Lord’s yesterday, Mark Ramprakash achieved the distinction of becoming the first batsman to take centuries off all eighteen of the first-class counties. But with the Middlesex openers negotiating the final hour and a quarter without any problem, the day ended with honours approaching parity.

True, the home side trail their opponents by 124 runs. But should today's weather forecast prove to be correct or, indeed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury fail to get any appreciable turn on the last day, there appears every chance that the game will end with both sides’ unbeaten records in this summer’s County Championship still intact.

Ramprakash was determined to make a hundred even if it took him all of yesterday. He batted for almost five-and-half hours before being caught at second slip for 110. Alec Stewart contributed a stylish 87 – his fourth half-century in as many visits to the crease for Surrey this season – but the docile nature of the pitch was underlined by Saqlain’s unorthodox approach to batting, which brought the nightwatchman his highest championship score of 69 off 104 balls.

The Pakistani helped add 82 for the fourth wicket, which was the cause of some frustration for Middlesex. They did little to help themselves, however. Mushtaq, who hit audacious sixes over long off and mid-wicket, and brought up the fifty partnership by flat-batting a single over the bowler Ashley Noffke’s head, was dropped by David Nash on twelve and might have been run out when 29.

He outlasted Mark Ramprakash, who went to his tenth first-class hundred for Surrey and his 18th at Lord's – in 236 deliveries – with a four through extra cover off Chad Keegan. His bat and helmet were raised in celebration before the ball had hit the boundary rope. Soon afterwards Ramprakash was dropped by Ben Hutton, who made amends when the 33-year-old drove hard at Simon Cook two overs later and instead of hitting a second successive four was taken low down to Hutton’s right.

Saqlain Mushtaq departed to a top-edged sweep off Paul Weekes, which was claimed by Keegan at fine leg. Half an hour later Noffke uprooted Adam Hollioake’s off-stump, which the Surrey skipper made sure was back in place before he set off in the direction of the Pavilion. Alex Tudor played on to Abdul Razzaq and Martin Bicknell was caught behind to give Ed Joyce his second first-class scalp.

But all the while Stewart looked in prime form as he made his way to fifty in 76 deliveries on the occasion of his 250th first-class appearance for Surrey. The veteran announced himself by pulling Keegan for two fours in as many overs, but, more significantly, was the only batsman to gain the upper hand against Weekes’s off-spin. That was until Alec Stewart was the last man out when Joyce took a juggling catch on the mid-wicket boundary to give Paul Weekes figures of three for 88.

Andrew Strauss and Sven Koenig then batted with no lack of panache. The Middlesex captain, who cut the first ball of the innings for four, took six boundaries off the bowling of Jimmy Ormond; two successively in the former Leicestershire man’s final over of the day – the fourteenth – which also saw the fifty being posted.

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