Five-wicket Sanderson believes Northants still in the hunt at Middlesex

The County ended day two 43 runs behind their hosts, who still have three wickets in hand as they closed on 250 for seven in reply to Northants' 207 all out - which was a decent recovery from at one point being 113 for seven.

Sanderson played a crucial role in that fightback, scoring 40 from 71 balls as he and Lewis McManus posted an 83-run eight-wicket partnership, the vice-captain ending up 39 not out from 71 balls.

The veteran campaigner then shone with the ball as well, claiming five for 58 from 21 overs of top-class pace bowling, with on-loan seamer Dom Leech (1-35 from 14) and debutant leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (1-48 from 15) the others to enjoy success.

The five-wicket haul was the 21st of Sanderson’s career, and takes his first-class wicket tally to an impressive 394 from 106 matches.

Sam Robson and Leus du Plooy were the main thorns in the side for Northants, as they dug in for half-centuries, Robson scoring 58 from 146 balls and du Plooy 66 not out from 102.

Middlesex have used up 85.4 overs to patiently piece together their 43-run advantage, and Sanderson admits it has been a difficult surface for batters and bowlers alike.

“It’s an interesting pitch," said Sanderson. "I’d say it’s probably not ideal either way really because there’s not enough pace on it to feel like you can nick people off, if somebody’s playing with soft hands and it’s not a pitch you can score freely on.

"So it’s finding that happy balance – as a batter, you’re playing late and being very patient on it and just waiting for bad balls to put away.

“As a bowler it’s the same, you’ve got to challenge the stumps and hope the batter makes a mistake and pushes at one and it carries to the slips.

“Lewis (McManus) was good to bat with, he just kept calm and was helping me through it a little bit, so it was a crucial partnership for us at that time, to get some sort of total on the board."

The weather forcast for Northwood on Saturday is far from ideal, with rain forecast for much of the day, but Sanderson said: "We can’t plan for rain.

"We’ve just got to plan that, as soon as we get out there bowling again, knock them over as quickly as we can and get batting.”

Du Plooy is pleased with his side's position, but admits Northants are definitely not out of the match just yet due to the testing surface.

“It’s one of those wickets where it’s tough to start," he said.

"There’s definitely a certain method to playing on it and scoring runs and it’s different to what you might get at Lord’s or Wantage Road.

“We’d have liked to have maybe two or three more wickets still in the bank, but Ro (Toby Roland-Jones, 15no from 12 balls) came in at the end and just swung the momentum back on our side.

“Northamptonshire will try and keep us down to within 50-60 of their total and then they’ll feel they’re within reach.

"We’ve just got to go out again and try to stamp our authority on the game."

Quotes courtesy of Ben Kosky