| Vitality County Championship Division 2, Rose (Day 1) |
| Yorkshire 159: Massoud 33; Higgins 4-31, Roland-Jones 3-49 |
| Middlesex 84-2: Stoneman 38*, Du Plooy 23* |
| Middlesex 3 points, Yorkshire 0 points |
| match scorecard |
On the first day of the County Championship showdown at Lord's, Yorkshire's England duo Joe Root and Harry Brooke failed with the bat, allowing Middlesex to take the lead by bowling out the visitors for 159.
Root had just five goals and was felled by Tom Helm, while Brook was caught in Ethan Bamber's slip with three goals.
On the rain-shortened first day of Division Two competition, Middlesex's Ryan Higgins finished with 4-31 and Toby Roland-Jones finished with 3-49, dismissing his opponents in just 37.4 overs.
Jordan Thompson and Micky Edwards fought back with a wicket each, but Mark Stoneman and Reus du Plooy shared an unbroken partnership of 47 to take Middlesex to 84-2 at stumps.
Home skipper Roland Jones threw the visitors into the match after winning the toss, with Adam Lyth (15) taking the only wicket, but heavy rain and a brief hailstorm halted the score at 41-1. .
It was a different story when play resumed at 2pm, with Roland-Jones bowling Finlay Bean from the inside edge and Helm finding movement from the nursery end tempting Root to direct straight into gully.
Brook's short stay at the crease was intense, the first ball from Helm rising out of the water and slipping past his bat, the next taking an edge but falling short of the second slip.
But Bamber's reintroduction quickly paid off, as Brook drove the first ball into the hands of a diving du Plooy at second slip, before Shan Massoud hit a ball low and lbw.
Higgins struck twice in three deliveries, removing both the legs of Jonny Tattersall and Thompson before Ben Cord's counterattack put Yorkshire past 150.
Middlesex's Nathan Fernandes and Max Holden departed before another rain delay, but the players returned for a further nine overs, during which Stoneman and Du Ploy shaved off a further 47 runs, each He reached the Stamps with 38 RBIs and 23 RBIs.
Report provided by the ECB Reporters Network.
