Durham 256-5

Durham finished Day 1 at Lords with a creditable 256-5. Ned Eckersley was not out 57, while Liam Trevaskis walked off with 32. They had raised an unbeaten 73 for the sixth wicket and moved their county into an advantageous position.

Despite being put in, the Northerners excelled at the start of their innings reaching 81 without loss. Thereafter, their innings were staccato. Every batsman until that final evening reached at least 15, four reached 30 but none reached 50.

The home bowling was very disciplined, rarely beating the bat but offering very few bad deliveries. Both new balls were relatively unhelpful but became more bowler-friendly as they wore on.

Roland-Jones and Hollman took two wickets each and only Martin Andersson struggled, his 14 overs costing 59.

Middlesex won the toss and Durham opened with Alex Lees and Michael Jones. They played with a maturity and confidence, and soon saw off the opening spells of Roland-Jones, Tim Murtagh, Ethan Bamber and Andersson, surpassing 50 with ease.

Durham barely needed to make much use of the very short boundary on the Tavern Side, so effortless and error-free was the partnership. Roland-Jones was the most difficult bowler to getaway. His opening salvo of five overs only cost seven runs.

Lees was eventually out for 44, LBW to Toby Roland-Jones with the score at 81. It was pretty plumb although there originally seemed to be a suggestion of bat.

AFTERNOON SESSION