Career best for Steven Finn stuns Worcestershire

LV= COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO, New Road:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY TWO: Worcestershire 287 & 119 v Middlesex 126 & 12-1
Middlesex 5pts, Worcestershire 3pts
Match scorecard

Finn led the Middlesex fightback

England paceman Steven Finn took a superb career-best 9-37 to lead the Middlesex fightback on day two of their Championship game at Worcester.

After Worcestershire chose not to enforce the follow-on, Finn bowled a blistering spell to skittle the hosts out for 119 in their second innings.

Earlier Worcestershire paceman Richard Jones bowled a fine spell of his own (6-37) in Middlesex's total of 126.

But Finn's heroics means Middlesex, who were 12-1 at stumps, need 281 to win.

The man to go was Scott Newman but England skipper Andrew Strauss was unbeaten on 10 and will have a point to prove after his first-innings failure.

Strauss's fellow England man Finn, who made his Test debut in March, was in stunning form to take his match haul to 14-106.

But the prospects of a Middlesex win look slim after the visitors were bowled out for 126 in reply to Worcestershire's 287.

The visitors found themselves in all sorts of trouble against Jones.

He had Middlesex reeling at 47 for five and things barely improved as they fell 161 runs shy of the hosts' first innings total.

But Finn ripped through the Worcestershire batting line-up to leave the match delicately poised after a thrilling day at New Road.

Worcestershire bowler Richard Jones told BBC Hereford and Worcester:
"I'm not concentrating on pace really but we speak as a bowling group about hitting an orange box which we carry out with us during practice.

"It is something that we are always talking about in the field - concentrate on that orange box and that is our main focus.

"I think I did that quite well today and I got the ball into the right areas often enough."