County Championship: Stevie Eskinazi extends Middlesex lead over Leicestershire

Stevie Eskinazi batted using team-mate Max Holden as a runner

Stevie Eskinazi batted with a runner for more than three hours to help Middlesex stretch their lead to 272 on day three against Leicestershire.

Eskinazi (53 not out) retired hurt in the first innings at Merchant Taylor's School but his stand of 77 with James Harris helped his side to 176-7.

Leicestershire were earlier all out for 228, with Colin Ackermann bowled by Ethan Bamber (3-54) for 82.

They then reduced Middlesex to 17-4 before the home side staged a recovery.

First-innings centurion Sam Robson only managed four before edging to first slip from the final ball before lunch, bowled by Will Davis,

Josh de Caires, son of former England skipper Michael Atherton, fell for two, caught off a ball by Abi Sakande which bounced more than he expected, and Davis (3-21) quickly removed Max Holden and Joe Cracknell to (3-21), to give him a career-best eight in the match.

Wicketkeeper Robbie White steadied the innings with 34 before he was caught off spinner Callum Parkinson to leave Middlesex 82-6.

But, with Holden back out there as his runner. Eskinazi - who has a groin injury - found another able partner in Harris,

The pair stayed together for more than 36 overs before Harris was lbw to an Ed Barnes yorker for 26.

In total, Eskinazi batted for 202 minutes and faced 173 deliveries, reaching his fifty with a square cut to the boundary from the last ball of the day, bowled by Barnes.

Middlesex are looking for what would be only their second Championship win of the season, while Leicestershire are seeking a third, but their remote chance of being involved in the Division One title battle in September is now over.

Middlesex batsman Steve Eskinazi:

"I had a scan this morning and it was a grade two tear of the groin muscle. They're saying around two to four weeks out, but I'll be doing everything I can to try and get back on the skinny end of that.

"Hopefully it settles down and I can get some good rehab in. Waters instead of beers for me on July 19th.

"There's a little bit of pain when I'm lunging and if I'm extending myself too far it's pretty sore, but I defended 99 per cent of balls out there, to be fair. It was nice to go out under a bit of pressure and hopefully put us in a pretty dominant position."

Leicestershire head coach Paul Nixon:

"We had a brilliant spell where we picked up five or six wickets quite quickly and then they dug in with a good partnership.

"It was disappointing the way we fell away with our batting. We wanted Colin Ackermann to get a hundred and people to work around him. But Middlesex put the ball in good areas and asked questions and it cost us. We got skittled out for very few.

"Will Davis has got his best first-class figures, which we're delighted about. Hopefully he can come back, get that new ball in his hand and get another couple of wickets - it'd be good to see him get 10. We knocked nearly 400 off against these guys at Grace Road, so we've got a big day ahead of us."