MIDDLEBROOK'S HUNDRED GIVES NORTHANTS THE EDGE by Marcus Hook
Surrey 322 & 182-4 v Northamptonshire 376.

At various stages in this match one side has got their noses in front, only to let their advantage slip. Going into the final day honours are, once again, pretty much even. Surrey are 128 runs ahead with six second innings wickets intact. Had it not been for a splendid hundred from James Middlebrook, or, for that matter, the departure of Rory Hamilton-Brown fifteen minutes before the close, the Oval outfit might now be entertaining thoughts of victory. The pitch is starting to show signs of wear, but it is by no means a terror track, which makes the draw the most likely outcome - but you never know.

Responding to a first innings deficit of 54, Gary Wilson and Michael Brown put on 90 in 32 overs for the first wicket. Wilson was given a life, on 10, when he offered Niall O'Brien a difficult caught behind chance; low to the left of his fellow Irishman.

Eight overs later, Wilson hit successive fours either side of the wicket off Lee Daggett before cutting James Middlebrook's off-spin to the backward point boundary. Brown then came out of his shell, driving David Lucas straight up the ground for four before despatching Andrew Hall's first delivery to the fence at mid-wicket and repeating the dose four balls later.

It was just beginning to look as though Wilson and Brown would register Surrey's first three-figure opening partnership in the championship since August 2009 when Daggett went to 100 first-class wickets - Brown chasing a wide delivery to depart for 46.

Shortly after tea Wilson became Rob White's first scalp in nearly four years when, playing back and attempting to work to leg, he failed to pick the googly. Before opening his account, Steven Davies was dropped by O'Brien off the bowling of White, but the lapse was to go unpunished.

In the 42nd over, Daggett had Davies caught at cover point off a leading edge, and with White growing in confidence Zander de Bruyn and Rory Hamilton-Brown had to play themselves in watchfully.

Hamilton-Brown followed up his 74 on the opening day with an equally attractive 41. The Surrey captain despatched Middlebrook's first ball after tea to the rope at extra cover and, two overs later, slog swept the former Yorkshire and Essex man for four.

De Bruyn played second fiddle, happily working the ball into the gaps when the opportunity presented itself. But the efforts of the fourth wicket pair were undone when Hamilton-Brown chopped Chaminda Vaas on to his stumps, shortly after calling for a drink to dislodge a fly that had become lodged in his throat.

Earlier, the fourth ball of the day saw Middlebrook bring his fifty up in 105 deliveries. Ten overs later, Middlebrook took his side past Surrey's 322 with a bottom-edged pull for four off Stuart Meaker, which he followed up by despatching Gareth Batty to the rope at mid-wicket. But, six overs later, Batty drew a line under Hall and Middlebrook's magnificent 179-run eighth wicket alliance when he had the Northants skipper lbw lunging forward.

That left Meaker to wrap up the visitors by beating Lucas for pace and then extracting Middlebrook's off peg, though not before the 33-year-old had brought up the fifth first-class century of his 13-year career with a twelfth boundary. It had taken him 189 balls in four and a half hours.

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