Jamie Smith falls short but Surrey reinforce commanding position over Middlesex

The weather apps lied to the 3,000-odd people who turned up at the Kia Oval on Saturday. It was not sunny, nor was it warm. The "real feel" overshot by about 10 degrees. Of the things Saturday promised, this was the biggest lie. It was also the only one.

Coming into day three of this encounter, the scope was of Surrey asserting dominance or Middlesex showing some mongrel. By the end, both had played out to a point. A first-innings lead of 171 was established, then whittled down to 43 in 41 overs of dogged resistance that certainly raised the temperature under the collars of those out on the field.

This London Derby always tends to surprise with its ill-feeling, and this was no different. Surrey had to work harder than they'd have liked for three second-innings wickets and the atmosphere out in the middle was gnarly, in the best way possible. This stuff still matters to these players. We'll get a reminder of just how much on Sunday when tensions will rise a little more.

That Surrey control the match and the environment around it was primarily down to Jamie Smith extending his knock from 55 to 97. Watchful at first, particularly in the face of some suffocating bowling, typified by the impressive Ethan Bamber, he expanded his repertoire to what looked a certain hundred.

Alas, number seven will have to wait a little longer, but the 42 runs added was the foundation for a doubling of Surrey's overnight score to 380. The 22-year-old set a new season-high at least, beating his 88 against Warwickshire a couple of weeks ago.

There was palpable dismay at his dismissal, particularly as the crowd swelled as he approached what would have been a second century this year. The first came in Sri Lanka for England Lions, and alerted the rest of the country that this kid is going places. As such, an "I was there when Jamie Smith carried Surrey" was replaced with a "I was there when Luke Hollman tied Jamie Smith down and eventually got him to york himself into a stumping".

From Middlesex's perspective, it was an overdue dismissal. Smith was dropped on 24, then again on 55 off the last ball of day two. Even this morning, there were enough plays and misses to wonder if Smith might finish Saturday winning Eurovision.

Most, if not all of that angst came from the youngster's end because wickets were coming pretty regularly at the other. Tim Murtagh needed just six deliveries to take out Foakes, thanks to an exceptional catch by John Simpson standing up to the stumps.

The Middlesex wicketkeeper spent most of the morning with his helmet on, making everything a little more claustrophobic for the batters. Will Jacks didn't seem bothered at first, standing in his crease to lift Bamber over wide mid-on for six to level Middlesex's first-innings score of 209 for the loss of just four wickets.

Bamber would get his revenge, Jacks neither forward nor back with Simpson breathing down his neck, allowing enough room between bat and pad for a delivery to nip through and take off stump. Similar indeterminate footwork did for Jordan Clark, slapping Ryan Higgins to backward point.

Upon Smith's departure, the lead was only 74 but a long tail delivered as the final four contributed 101 with the bat. Abbott and Worrall were the main grantors, albeit in wildly different styles. Abbott was prim and proper; attacking no doubt, particularly as he danced down the track and slapped Higgins into the stands in front of the Pavilion on the stroke of lunch, but in a calm, calculated manner.

Emerging after the break, Abbott took the lead from 82 to 131 before falling short of a second half-century of the season, inadvertently guiding a delivery down onto his stumps. In tagged Worrall for something far more agricultural, clearing his front leg to smack Higgins down the ground first ball, then heaving a six over mid-on and smiting a drive on the up for four through cover in successive deliveries of the allrounder's next over.

Roland-Jones eventually tamed Worrall with a short delivery through to the keeper, after the Australian had seemingly found a remedy with a guide over the top of the slips. A swat through to Simpson (standing back) brought an engaging innings to a close.

With 49 overs to go against a visiting line-up that had lost nine wickets inside 21.1 overs two days ago, thoughts turn to a possible Sunday off with an Innings victory. Sam Robson and Mark Stoneman knuckled down, getting through a 30-minute spell before tea, ensuring at the very least Middlesex will fight another day.

The openers returned with the same patient approach, not quite taking it to Surrey's experienced, seam-laden attack but certainly doing enough to frustrate them into ball complaints. Midway through the 13th over, those were heeded and a replacement called for.

And yep, you guessed it - wickets followed. Though there was no sense Middlesex were undone just by a change of Dukes, they were certainly unlucky. Not so much for Robson's dismissal, snicked off by the impressive Abbott, but certainly for Stoneman's.

On 28, he went for a wild square drive to Gus Atkinson, as the ball shot through to Foakes. It turned out the ball attributed to the nick came through bat hitting the floor, with replays showing a clear gap between bat and ball.

Of course, there is no DRS, though the presence of Sky's camera meant Atkinson's front foot was checked via stump cam. There had been a handful of high-def replays of potential stumpings and run-outs, with another coming later on when Max Holden was almost seen off for 28 with a direct hit from Rory Burns. Nevertheless, it did feel an odd ad-hoc overstepping of the usual guidelines the County Championship is played under.

Then again, if you've got the technology there, why not use it? They did so again to check Clark's front foot - this time from a parallel camera - when he trimmed off Eskinazi. It felt a shame they didn't raise the stump mics in the process, as Surrey and Eskinazi exchanged a few words before a second send-off after the delivery's legitimacy was confirmed.

You could sense the host's frustration, which they perhaps have themselves to blame for exacerbating after Jacks gave Holden a life on 18, dropping a simple catch at second slip from Kemar Roach. Burns then pulled up the umpires for allowing Holden and Simpson to walk off after 38 overs.

The light was bad, but Burns seemed to suggest there was no communication that Surrey's pace quintet were pushing their luck until Worrall went short to Holden. Burns coaxed the batters back to the middle with the offering of pace-off. A couple of overs of Jacks' off-spin sandwiching one of medium pace from Ryan Patel later, stumps was officially called.