WAS it August in northwest London yesterday? Top buttons were undone in the pavilion, shirts removed in the cheap seats and the pitch played better than ever. So perhaps April heat-stroke was to blame as 18 wickets fell and the balance of the game seesawed. It was fantastic entertainment, if a little startling.

First-division cricket is supposed to be conservative, but either Jonathan Batty, the Surrey captain, has seen a different weather forecast to everybody else, or he felt that a target of 297 in a minimum of 104 overs would be beyond Middlesex, as James Ormond had opened the bowling from the pavilion end with five slips.As the home side strolled to 32 without loss in the last eight overs of the day it did not look enough on a good pitch.

Middlesex survived in the first division last season by grinding out high-scoring draws and they might have been happy to have done the same here. But perhaps Surrey were too acutely aware that after they had just saved the draw against Sussex at the Oval in the previous round of matches, Lancashire were thrashing the champions at Hove.

First Surrey were on top, taking six wickets in the morning session. Middlesex slipped from an overnight 176 for two to 300 for eight and then 325 all out soon after lunch to give the visiting side a lead of 93.

Then it was Middlesex’s turn to tilt the balance as they reduced Surrey to 71 for five. Azhar Mahmood blasted Surrey back into the driving seat adding 113 in 23 overs with Mark Ramprakash, who had dropped anchor. It was another lesson in how you never have Surrey on the ropes. Mahmood’s 70 came off 77 balls, but when he was out Ramprakash went six balls later and the crazy batting began again as Surrey lost five wickets for 19 runs in 41 balls.

The tumble of wickets began with the fourth ball of the day as Paul Hutchison, the nightwatchman, had his middle and leg stumps removed by Mahmood. The Pakistan all-rounder continued to generate plenty of away swing at a good pace but it was not until Owais Shah, who was easing his way towards a hundred, got himself out for 93 cutting at one too close to him, that the collapse began.

Mahmood, who would have had Weekes leg-before but for overstepping, then swung the ball back into the left hander’s pads again in the next over to get his man. James Dalrymple, who with Weekes had excelled with the bat against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, shuffled across his crease and was leg-before for a golden duck to a yorker from Ormond. At 226 for six Middlesex were still in danger of following on.

Spin took over half an hour before lunch and finished Middlesex off but Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury extracted only gentle turn. It was enough to have David Nash caught at short leg. Then Ed Joyce yorked himself trying to work a full length ball from Salisbury to leg and was bowled for 45.

Surrey were in half an hour after lunch and if they were under instructions to play their shots they rather overcooked it as first Batty and then Scott Newman were caught at third man cutting at Nantie Hayward. Shah the Middlesex captain, employed conservative fields and let Surrey do their worst. It worked. James Benning started brightly again and left very reluctantly when adjudged leg-before but Alistair Brown continued his wretched form from last season, edging to first slip. Both Benning and Brown will be in danger of losing their places, particularly when Surrey get their England contingent back.