Centuries for Sam Robson and Leus du Plooy give Middlesex control over Leicestershire

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Batters give hosts a chance of forcing a result at Lord’s, despite a patchy day four forecast

Sam Robson marked his return from injury with a 33rd first class hundred  •  Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Middlesex 407 for 8 (Robson 162, du Plooy 131) lead Leicestershire 306 (Handscomb 109, Bamber 4-68) by 101 runs

Sam Robson and Leus du Plooy shared a Middlesex record third-wicket stand against Leicestershire of 252 to put the home side in control of their Vitality County Championship clash at Lord’s.

Robson marked his return from a thumb injury by top-scoring with a meticulous 162, while Du Plooy struck 131 from 191 balls – his second century since moving from Derbyshire over the winter – to help the Seaxes post 407 for eight.

That amounted to a first-innings lead of 101, with a quartet of bowlers – Ben Mike, Scott Currie, Ben Green and Rehan Ahmed – all picking up two wickets for the Foxes.

However, with the first day washed out entirely and a gloomy weather forecast for Monday, a draw looks the most probable outcome. With one wicket falling on the previous evening, Leicestershire doubled that tally in the first over of the day as Max Holden drove outside off stump at Currie and was taken low at slip without increasing his overnight score of 26.

However, that proved to be the visitors’ solitary success of the morning session as Robson and Du Plooy accumulated runs steadily with only rare cause for concern.

Robson, having already clipped a couple of boundaries square off his pads, survived a scare on 39 when he glanced Currie on the leg side and wicketkeeper Ben Cox, springing to his left, got a glove to the ball but could not make it stick.

A cleaner leg-glance off Tom Scriven took the opener past 50, while Du Plooy opted to give Green the charge, moving down the track to hoist a short delivery into the Mound Stand for six.

Rehan received similar treatment when he came on for a pre-lunch spell, with Du Plooy whipping the England leg-spinner over the top for four and cutting his next ball for three to reach a half-century.

Middlesex upped the tempo after the interval and Robson won the race with his partner to three figures, driving Scriven through midwicket for a three to post the landmark from 198 balls.

Scriven, who got the ball to swing from the Nursery End, was unlucky to remain wicketless – persuading Du Plooy to edge to Peter Handscomb at leg slip but the ex-Middlesex skipper was unable to hang on.

Still 16 short of his hundred at the time, Du Plooy took advantage of that let-off to complete a ton. The second new ball actually proved fruitful for the batters, who soon accelerated beyond Leicestershire’s total of 306.

Robson capitalised on a trio of short-pitched offerings from Mike, pulling him for two fours and a six before tea, but the Foxes bowlers finally began to make inroads during the final session.

Du Plooy was first to depart, feathering one behind from Currie and Ryan Higgins was bowled swinging at Green, who also claimed the scalp of Robson, neatly caught at backward point to end his six-hour stay at the crease.

Nathan Fernandes maintained Middlesex’s momentum with a pugnacious 25-ball knock of 31, including sixes off Green and Rehan before holing out to deep midwicket, while Toby Roland-Jones also perished in pursuit of quick runs prior to bad light intervening.