Rogers and Robson dig in for Middlesex

Close, day two: Middlesex 96-0 trail Nottinghamshire 430-7 dec by 334 runs

Openers Chris Rogers and Sam Robson survived the final session of the day to lead the Middlesex fightback but they still have more batting to do to avoid the follow-on.

Nottinghamshire declared at tea on 430-7 after some heavy hitting from Australian David Hussey (67) and New Zealander Andre Adams (80) in the afternoon session.

Earlier, Steven Mullaney had marked his Lord’s debut by reaching his century before being dismissed for 125.

Crucially, Rogers and Robson saw out the final 35 overs of the day to close on 96-0 but Middlesex still require another 184 to pass the follow-on mark.

Early in the day, Mullaney added the 12 he needed to make his century but could only watch as Tim Murtagh trapped England candidate James Taylor lbw for nine.

Mullaney and Samit Patel then added a brisk 44 in eight overs before the centurion top edged a ball from Gareth Berg to Neil Dexter.

Notts had reached 297-4, with Patel and Hussey going along nicely, when the England all-rounder saw his hopes of a half century ended by a fine catch in the slips by Ollie Rayner.

Adams announced his arrival with a six off his first ball as he and Hussey scored 60 in seven overs, including four more maximums between them.

But the blitz was interrupted by a brief delay for bad light and then ended completely when Hussey edged behind off Berg.

Adams hadn’t quite finished, hitting two more sixes in a stand of 73 with Chris Read and when the New Zealander was caught for 80, off 76 balls, Notts declared.

They would have been hoping to make inroads into the Middlesex top order before the close but Rogers and Robson, as has often been the case this season, remained stoic.

Skipper Rogers took the lead role with eight boundaries in his 67 not out while Robson was the more watchful, scoring 28 from 99 balls.

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