A day that began nightmarishly for Somerset with the loss of four wickets in the first ten balls could hardly have got any worse. It did, however, when Chris Rogers led the sort of prolonged mauling of a side’s bowling that sides dread. The Australian completely dominated the visiting attack with some virtuoso batting that brought him 173 from 191 balls.
Rogers survived a desperately close leg before appeal off Peter Trego early in his innings, and edged the same bowler at catchable height between the slips soon after, but was otherwise in total command.
Perhaps Trego was still cursing his ill fortune when he dropped a straightforward chance at second slip off Alfonso Thomas before Joe Denly had scored. It proved a most costly mistake because Denly went on to make a convincing 168-ball hundred, sharing a second wicket stand of 245 in just 53 overs with Rogers.
Rogers, whose only Test cap ended in defeat at the hands of India in Perth, is not the most eye-catching batsman with his crabby technique, but he is a hugely effective one at county level. Driving crisply through the covers, his main scoring area, he collected 23 fours, as well as clouting three legside sixes over what was a short Tavern boundary after galloping to his century from 139 balls. He finally holed out to deep square leg when he tried to pull Trego.
After starting scratchily, Denly unfurled some handsome offside drives of his own to reach fifty from 76 balls. It took him another 88 to advance to three figures, mainly because he tiptoed anxiously through the nineties.
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Somerset did not bowl well, wasting the new ball when Trego’s direction was awry and Gemaal Hussain gave Rogers too much width.
Thomas, who nipped one back to trap Sam Robson leg before, was the pick of the bowlers, although Craig Overton, the tall whippy 18-year-old, gave a good account of himself. James Hildreth underused him, perhaps keen that he should not be scarred by Rogers’ assault.
Somerset, 130 for four overnight, batted poorly when the pitch was still lively first thing. Craig Kieswetter drove loosely at a wide ball, the first of the day, nicking it to the keeper; then, Jos Buttler also went hard at one that he could have left, losing his leg stump thanks to an inside edge. Overton gloved his first ball, an intelligent bouncer from Tim Murtagh, before Thomas had his off stump sent cartwheeling when he was caught on the crease. Trego resisted defiantly until he was last out, caught on the legside boundary.
Middlesex v Somerset at Lord’s (second day of four): Middlesex, with eight first-innings wickets in hand, are 148 runs ahead of Somerset
Somerset: First Innings (overnight 130-4)
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†C Kieswetter c Simpson b Berg 48
J C Buttler b Murtagh 0
P D Trego c Morgan b Roland-Jones 38
C Overton c Simpson b Murtagh 0
*A C Thomas b Berg 0
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G H Dockrell c Simpson b Roland-Jones 5
G M Hussain not out 0
Extras (lb 4, nb 4) 8
Total (67.5 overs) 173
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-45, 4-125, 5-130, 6-130, 7-130, 8-133, 9-164.
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Bowling: Murtagh 20-6-42-3; Collymore 11.1-3-21-1; Roland-Jones 15.5-2-47-3; Berg 20.5-4-59-3.
Middlesex: First Innings
*C J L Rogers c Suppiah b Trego 173
S D Robson lbw b Thomas 9
J L Denly not out 105
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D J Malan not out 24
Extras (lb 7, w 1, nb 2) 10
Total (2 wkts, 69 overs) 321
E J G Morgan, †J A Simpson, G K Berg, O P Rayner, T S Roland-Jones, T J Murtagh and C D Collymore to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-285.
Bowling: Trego 16-1-82-1; Hussain 16-3-86-0; Thomas 15-0-49-1; Overton 10-2-29-0; Dockrell 10-1-44-0; Suppiah 2-0-24-0.
Umpires: N L Bainton and N A Mallender.