Middlesex all-rounder James Harris was pleased with how the second day of their County Championship Division Two match with Sussex played out at Lord’s.

Having dismissed the visitors for 171 and a first-innings lead of just two runs, Middlesex reached 210-5 in their second innings.

Harris (4-61) was the pick of the Middlesex bowling, as James Fuller, Ethan Bamber and Steve Finn all nabbed braces, before Dawid Malan (69 not out) and Stevie Eskinazi (60) led the way with the bat.

And Harris said: “It was a pretty good day’s cricket to play in and we are pretty pleased with how it’s gone.

“Sussex edged Wednesday by a little bit, so we knew we had to come back and make their innings as short as possible which we did a pretty good job of.

“And then to be 210-5 on a tricky pitch you could say we’ve been a really good third innings team in recent times.

“Eski (Stevie Eskinazi) played beautifully and for Dawid (Malan) to dig in and play an un-Dawid-like innings, just batting time was really important.

“It’s tough to know what the pitch will do. In the past here they’ve got flatter, but there are still plenty of balls in that wicket that will get people out and I think we will see a few more misbehaving bounce-wise as well.

“There are divots too so the odd one might jump a bit. If we can get 260-plus and bowl well we have a really good chance.”