NORTHAMPTON

(Day two of four: Northampton won toss)

Middlesex 545-7dec (133.5 overs, AJ Strauss 172, EJG Morgan 136 not out, OA Shah 114, MS Panesar 5-137); Northamptonshire 128-3 (31 overs, ST Finn 2-31)

Lunch

Although Andrew Stauss, missing his career-best score by six runs, fell after 25 minutes for 172, Owais Shah continued to his third championship hundred of the season, but his slow rate of progress rather enforced a sense of Middlesex somewhat losing tactical direction.

In the end, Shah spent 128 balls over his second fifty, moving from an overnight 69 to his century only 15 minutes before lunch. Northamptonshire's bowlers, without David Wigley who slipped in the field on Wednesday when he proved so expensive, were far tighter in the morning but a session that produced only 104 runs at 3.07 per over was not quite in the visiting side's best interests, given a good pitch and a match where 27 overs have already been lost.

Strauss advanced to drive powerfully at Monty Panesar but returned a well-taken low catch that brought Eoin Morgan to the crease. The Dubliner had scored only 175 runs in the 13 innings after his maiden century in mid-July. Here, however, he passed 35 for the first time since that landmark and had reached 47 by lunch.

Tea

A remarkable afternoon saw two left-arm spinners, Monty Panesar and Nicky Boje, bowl unchanged for 27 overs, claiming five wickets in the first 13 of them directly after lunch, before an onslaught from Morgan carried him at the gallop to a second championship hundred.

Panesar had completed his first five-wicket bag for his county in more than 14 months when the Irishman suddenly surged from 73 to 96 in one over, reverse sweeping Panesar's first two balls for four and hitting the next three for 6,4,4 before taking a single to retain the strike.

His hundred, the third in the innings, eventually came up in 155 balls, just too late for Middlesex to declare before tea and have a dart with the new ball either side of the interval, their apparent plan. But by scoring no fewer than 89 from the last 53 balls to a declaration that brought tea one ball early, the tactical advantage was comprehensively regained.

Things had wandered badly earlier. Panesar, seeing Shah advance, bowled short and fast to have him stumped for 114 and, next over, Ed Joyce, out for one, tamely turned Boje to short leg. Ben Scott, falling for eight, then went back to a Panesar ball that turned quickly to take the edge, Shaun Udal, slogging, lost his off stump to Boje for one and Tim Murtagh swiped Panesar to David Lucas on the mid-wicket boundary for 19.

Thanks to Morgan's exhilarating, unbeaten 136, the closure left Northamptonshire to face a minimum of 31 overs before the close and to make 396 to avoid the follow-on.

Close

Northamptonshire lost three wickets in the opening hour of their reply before David Sales and Riki Wessels negotiated the final 14.3 overs but they will still need 268 more runs on Friday to avoid the follow-on.

They may be assisted by the fact that Shah has become Middlesex's fifth bowler following an ankle injury to Dirk Nannes in the warm-ups before play began. Moreover, the real help in this pitch is for spinners and the visiting captain, Shaun Udal, is the only one available.

This did not prevent Tim Murtagh claiming his 62nd championship scalp of the year with the new ball when Steve Peters, back where he should have been forward, was leg-before for four. Steven Finn, Murtagh's teenage repalcement at the Pavilion End, then struck twice in his first four overs as O'Brien, for 30, returned a catch off his slower ball and Rob White, for 32, edged a good one to the wicketkeeper.