County Championship: James Franklin checks Notts progress
Last updated on .From the section Counties
| LV= County Championship Division One, Trent Bridge (close, day two) |
| Middlesex 374: Malan 182no, Harris 73; Gurney 3-68, Hutton 3-81 |
| Nottinghamshire 180-4: B Taylor 77, Mullaney 56no; Franklin 3-26 |
| Middlesex lead by 194 runs |
| Middlesex 4 pts, Nottinghamshire 3 pts |
| Match scorecard |
Middlesex skipper James Franklin produced an fine spell of bowling to check Nottinghamshire's progress on the second day at Trent Bridge.
The visitors were bowled out for 374 just before lunch, with Dawid Malan running out of partners on 182 not out.
Notts were going well in reply on 145-2 as Brendan Taylor (77) and Steven Mullaney (56 not out) added 71.
But Franklin (3-26) removed Taylor and Riki Wessels in the same over before bad light ended play with Notts 180-4.
Middlesex resumed on 312-7 but the stand between Malan and James Harris, which had rescued them from 165-7, was brought to an end on 175 when Brett Hutton (3-81) bowled Harris for 73.
He also accounted for Toby Roland-Jones before Harry Gurney (3-68) had last man Tim Murtagh lbw to end the innings.
Notts lost Alex Hales for 18 after lunch, when he was bowled by Harris to become the Welsh paceman's 50th Championship victim of the season, and Michael Lumb followed for nine when he edged a ball from Franklin to the wicketkeeper.
With Taylor well set after over three hours in the middle, and hoping for a fourth century of the season, Franklin found a way through his defences.
Two balls later, the New Zealander took a return catch from Wessels, but bad light prevented Middlesex from making further inroads as Notts reached stumps 194 in arrears.
Notts batsman Brendan Taylor:
"The momentum was with Middlesex for the last four hours of yesterday so to get those three wickets this morning maybe swung things back in our favour a little bit.
"It's a pretty good wicket and to keep them to 370 was good. We feel as though we can go out tomorrow, bat for a long time and get past 400 or 450.
"I am not happy with getting out for 77. When you get to a score like that, you need to be really hard on yourself and kick on. But I didn't.
"I think we let them off the hook a bit on the first day with our catching, but we are still right in this game and our thoughts are very much about going on to win the game."
Middlesex bowler James Harris:
"After a couple of tough years it's very satisfying to be the first to get to 50 Championship wickets.
"As far as the batting is concerned, it's a shame I couldn't have gone on and got a few more to be honest. But it was a pretty good ball that got me, it nipped back through the gate.
"It was probably the best chance I have had to get to 100, apart from one or two opportunities when I was younger. But it wasn't to be. I need to bat like that, I need to contribute more, so to do it here was great.
"I think we are in a pretty good spot. We got an extra 60 this morning and I think another couple of quick wickets in the morning would certainly help us further."
