Nick Gubbins (201*) registered his maiden first-class double-hundred for Middlesex, as they enjoyed a superb day with the bat against Division One leaders Lancashire at Lord's in the Specsavers County Championship.
The left-handed opening batsman shared a mammoth partnership with Stephen Eskinazi worth 208 runs for the second-wicket stand, helping Middlesex to post 419/5 in reply to Lancashire's 513 all out. Eskinazi recorded his first century in only his second four-day appearance for Middlesex and his first match of the season, while Gubbins batted for nearly seven and a half hours to secure his first double-century at the age of 22.
Middlesex ensured that they would walk away from this game - one that has been dominated by the bat - with full batting points, as Gubbins added a further 95 runs with captain James Franklin (41) to take the hosts beyond 400, before rain curtailed the third day with an hour left to play.
Gubbins and Eskinazi started the day with their partnership already at a value of 87 runs and a wicketless morning session saw the former register his second century of the summer. Starting Day Three seven runs shy of his first ever half-century, the South-African batsman Eskinazi did not take long to progress to his fifty, reaching this milestone in 80 balls with his seventh boundary.
Having hit 109 against Somerset in May, Gubbins went to his second hundred of the summer in 203 balls, denying a disciplined Lancashire attack any opportunities on an incredibly flat and lifeless Lord's batting track. Middlesex were able to add 93 runs before lunch without losing any wickets, with Eskinazi nine runs short of his first ever century in first-class cricket.
In the early stages of the afternoon session, he realised his ambition of scoring a maiden hundred at Lord's, with his first ever century coming in style in 175 balls with a swept six off Matthew Parkinson (1-110). Middlesex needed solid contributions to match Lancashire's effort with the bat and they found it in two young batsmen - both aged just 22 - who reached a two-hundred-run partnership in 351 deliveries.
At this point, it was hard to see where a wicket was coming from, but Lancashire remained resolute in spite of the lack of assistance on offer. The Red Rose were offered a second chance when the new ball arrived and Kyle Jarvis (2-101) obliged by picking up the wicket of Eskinazi with his third ball of a new spell, as Tom Smith took the important catch at second slip with the score at 267/2.
Dawid Malan (24) made a brief appearance before Neil Wagner (1-83) got a rising delivery to take the edge of the bat, with Smith's safe hands once again being called into question in the slips. Lancashire had their third wicket for 42 runs when Jordan Clark (1-60) came onto bowl and struck with his very first delivery, bowling John Simpson (1) a former member of Lancashire's Second Team.
Gubbins went to 150 for the first time in his career in 291 balls and he continued to accelerate, hitting Clark for the second of his three sixes to help take Middlesex to 350, hitting his third maximum the ball after the home side had secured a fourth batting point. Skipper Franklin provided useful support to Gubbins, hitting seven boundaries in his brisk innings of 41 from 51 balls, as the pair added 95 runs for the fifth wicket to help Middlesex take all five batting points.
Jarvis was able to deny them a hundred-partnership when he encouraged Franklin to edge a drive behind to Steven Croft at 404/5, but Lancashire were unable to take the sixth wicket in time, meaning that the Red Rose only claimed one bowling point. Before this match, Lancashire were the only team to have maximum bowling points, which speaks volumes for the lack of encouragement available to their bowlers on a featherbed of a wicket.
When the players returned for the tea interval, the light was poor and rain was due to make its way across London, but their was just enough time for Gubbins to reach two-hundred for the first time in his career. His 23rd boundary came off the final ball of the third day, taking Gubbins to 200 in 329 deliveries, but this was the final act of the day, as the players left the field for bad light, before play was abandoned at 5.45pm.
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