Higgins wickets leaves Lancs v Middlesex evenly poised

Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, Emirates Old Trafford (day two)

Lancashire 201 & 45-3: Jennings 18; Higgins 3-15

Middlesex 169: du Plooy 67; Anderson 4-67; Balderson 3-19

Lancashire (3 pts) lead Middlesex (3 pts) by 77 runs with seven wickets remaining

Match scorecard

Lancashire's seamers hit back either side of a long rain break to help their side take a 32-run first-innings lead in their County Championship match against Middlesex at Emirates Old Trafford.

But in a dramatic last hour of play, Ryan Higgins took three prime wickets in ten balls for Middlesex to reduce the home side to 45-3 at the close, giving Lancashire a lead of 77 and leaving the game evenly poised.

Replying to Lancashire's 203, the visitors were dismissed for 169 despite skipper Leus du Plooy making a fine 67. James Anderson again led took the bowling honours with 4-67 but George Balderson took 3-19 before turning his attention to opening the batting.

In the morning session, Lancashire made their first breakthrough with the seventh ball of the day. After Ben Geddes had taken a single off the opening over, Anderson struck with his first delivery when the makeshift opener's attempted push into the leg side only popped up a return catch off the leading edge, which the bowler ran forward athletically to take.

But the dismissal of Geddes for 12 brought in Caleb Falconer to play his maiden first-class innings and the 19-year-old got off the mark when he edged his second delivery from Anderson to the third man boundary.

And although he made only 11 runs off 20 balls, Falconer did not look out of place during his 24 minutes in the middle. But the debutant's innings when he was lbw to Tom Bailey and that wicket ushered in an eventful eight overs during which Higgins made 32 off 30 balls and put on 44 with du Plooy.

Higgins cut Balderson first ball of the day through gully for four and pulled his next delivery for six before an attempt to whack another maximum only skied a steepling catch to mid-on which Anderson judged superbly.

That left Middlesex on 108-5 and they had scored eight more runs when torrential rain arrived. Du Plooy was unbeaten on 39 and could comfort himself that he had played one of the shots of the season at Old Trafford when he drove Mitch Stanley over cover point for six.