At the end of the second day of their CricInfo Championship match at Southgate, Middlesex were on the brink of beating Derbyshire to maintain their surprising early challenge for promotion to the first division.

Having taken their first innings total to a daunting 543 - their highest score since making 587 against Nottinghamshire at Lord's in 1985 - they had Derbyshire on the ropes by close of play; 111 for 9, still 283 short of avoiding the follow-on.

The damage was done by the spinners - Phil Tufnell (5-42) and Paul Weekes (4-25) - who were backed up by some smart catching and some less than resolute Derbyshire batting.

There was no hint of the carnage to come when Steve Stubbings and Luke Sutton put on 47 for the first wicket off the 17 overs preceding lunch but, as soon as the spinners started to bowl in harness, the rot set in and the nine wickets fell for the addition of 64 runs in the space of 37 overs.

The main interest of the morning was whether Owais Shah (141 overnight) would complete the first double-century of his career. He did so with his 32nd four, but was out next ball, well caught at mid-wicket to give Nathan Dumelow the first of his four wickets at a cost of 103 runs; an impressive return for a young off spinner appearing in only his second Championship match.

But he was the only Derbyshire player who could look back on the day with any satisfaction and it must surely be when, rather than if, they suffer their second sucessive championship defeat.

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