Sussex are in the driving seat going into the final day of their top of the table match with Middlesex after an unbroken third wicket stand between skipper Chris Adams and Michael Yardy helped them establish an overall lead of 283.

The hosts only just failed to make second division leaders Middlesex follow-on and they had to recover from a shaky start to their second innings when prolific openers Murray Goodwin and Richard Montgomerie were dismissed with just six runs on the board.

Yardy faced 18 balls before he got off the mark, but by the close he was out-scoring his unusually restrained partner and had reached 69 not out, his fifth half-century of the season coming off 98 balls with eight fours. Adams was unbeaten on 46 when play ended three overs early because of bad light with Sussex 140-2 off 45.4 overs.

Middlesex, resuming on 48-2, lost wickets steadily during the morning session on a pitch offering some encouragement to the seamers and it looked certain that they would have to follow on when James Kirtley claimed wickets in successive overs after lunch to reduce them to 142-8.

Tim Bloomfield was dropped on four by wicketkeeper Matt Prior off Mark Robinson and it turned out to be a crucial slip. Bloomfield went on to make a career-best 28 as he helped acting skipper Paul Weekes add 53 for the ninth wicket.

Bloomfield was then bowled by Jason Lewry to give the left-armer his fourth wicket, but Weekes and Phil Tufnell edged Middlesex to a crucial bonus point before Tufnell saved the follow-on in scarcely believable circumstances when he cover drove Kirtley for a boundary far better batsman than one of the game's renowned No11s would have been proud of.

Robinson had Weekes caught at slip for a gutsy 64 in the next over and both he and Kirtley finished with three wickets apiece.

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