Middlesex captain Sam Robson was delighted to see his side start the County Championship Division Two season with a convincing win over Northamptonshire at Lord’s.

James Harris (46 not out) top scored in their first innings 214, then took 5-9 as Northants were skittled for 71.

Max Holden (33) led the way in Middlesex’s second innings total of 159, as last man Tim Murtagh added 31.

That left Northants needing to score 303 for victory, but they were dismissed for 142 as Murtgh (4-36) and Harris (4-39) did most of the damage with the ball.

Robson said: “It’s a great start – obviously with what happened last year, you want to bounce back strongly and kick the season off well and I’m glad we ended up on the right side of it.

“James Harris was awesome with everything he did the whole way through. He got stuck in first innings and batted really well, probably got the balance right and, with the ball, he’s a handful in these conditions.

“We’ve had a good win here, but things are going to get harder, there’s no doubt about that. We just want to crack on and be open-minded about what we come up against.”