Middlesex 413 (Cracknell 112, Guthrie 7-94) and 215 for 3 (De Caires 87) lead Northamptonshire 435 (Zaib 102, McManus 71, Broad 70, Procter 62, Gohar 5-121) by 193 runs
Josh de Caires struck his highest first-class score, to put Middlesex in a strong position at the end of day three of this Rothesay County Championship match at Wantage Road. Playing his first game of the season, de Caires, who has batted at No. 7 for the last couple of years as a spinning allrounder, shared an opening stand of 89 with Sam Robson, the Seaxes finishing the day on 215 for 3, a lead of 193.
De Caires' 87, from 144 balls with 12 fours, helped wrestle back the initiative for Middlesex after allrounder Justin Broad hit 70 (81 balls, 10 fours) and combined with Lloyd Pope in a record 10th wicket partnership for Northamptonshire against Middlesex to earn a slender first-innings lead.
Broad and Pope's heroics came after Ryan Higgins' hat-trick spearheaded a Northamptonshire batting collapse in the morning session. From a dominant 342 for 5, the hosts lost four wickets for eight runs in just 4.2 overs after Saif Zaib posted an excellent 102, his fourth century of the summer (170 balls, 13 fours), the first Northamptonshire batter since Ben Duckett in 2016 to reach that milestone.
Higgins finished with figures of 3 for 48 while spinner Zafar Gohar took a further wicket to complete a five-for.
Resuming on 308 for 5, Zaib and Lewis McManus looked to extend their defiant partnership which already extended into three figures. Zaib's progress through the 90s was eased when sub-fielder Stevie Eskinazi's misfield gifted him a boundary. He reached three figures by bottom-edging an attempted reverse sweep past the keeper for four, but the shot proved his undoing later in the over when he picked out de Caires who took a stunning flying catch at backward point off Gohar.
That set in motion Northamptonshire's collapse, as Higgins, employing a short-pitched tactic, had McManus fending a leg-side bouncer to the keeper with the final ball of the 103rd over. He struck again with the first two balls of his next over to complete his hattrick. Rob Keogh moved across his stumps and was bowled around his legs while Liam Guthrie upper cut a short ball straight to point.
Broad was proactive from the outset, employing the sweep and reverse sweep against the spinners and muscling Gohar through midwicket.
With Pope providing solid support, Broad cut Gohar for four to bring up the 50 partnership and take Northamptonshire to 400. He pulled Toby Roland-Jones to the ropes, but the Middlesex captain couldn't hold onto a difficult diving chance at midwicket, the ball going for four to bring up Broad's half-century.
Middlesex targeted Pope with the short ball, but he was content to duck under the bouncers and take runs off the spinners and give Broad the bulk of the strike.
Broad duly wiped out the deficit and took Northamptonshire into the lead just before the delayed lunch interval before falling shortly after the resumption when he stepped away to a Robson delivery which turned and hit leg-stump.
With the bat, Robson took three boundaries off Northamptonshire's seamers but the hosts soon turned to the spinners.
While he bowled the occasional half-tracker which Middlesex punished, Pope obtained some sharp turn and bounce out of the foot holes, flighting the ball and finding some drift.
Calvin Harrison bowled tidily, conceding just one boundary in his first five overs. He posed some tough questions for both batters, beating Robson's outside edge before de Caires failed to pick the wrong'un as Harrison found some sharp bounce off a good length ball. He struck with another wrong'un soon afterwards, trapping Robson lbw as he moved across his stumps.
De Caires drove Keogh both sides of the wicket off consecutive balls and slog swept Keogh before taking a single off Harrison on the cusp of tea to bring up his half-century off 84 balls.
After the break, de Caires was harsh on anything loose from the spinners, pulling anything short to the boundary as well as sweeping sweetly.
With de Caires and Max Holden extending their partnership to 65, Northamptonshire turned to Guthrie who made the breakthrough almost instantly, bowling a bouncer which lifted sharply to de Caires who could only fend to second slip.
Max Holden (and Leus du Plooy then added a brisk 48 together. Du Plooy punched Guthrie off the back foot to get off the mark and whipped Harrison through midwicket, while Holden dispatched Keogh back over his head.
Holden continued to accelerate, sweeping Harrison over midwicket and coming down the wicket next ball to power him over long-on. du Plooy's departure came via a bizarre dismissal in the closing overs. Caught in two minds, he seemed to be considering whether to reverse sweep or the run the ball down to third man but instead guided the ball straight to the keeper.
The day ended tantalisingly poised with Middlesex considering when best to time their day four declaration.
