Middlesex head coach Stuart Law was frustrated to see his side dismissed for 221 at Worcestershire, even though they reduced the hosts to 64-3 by the close.

Dawid Malan (45) top scored for the visitors and put on an innings-high partnership of 62 with Stevie Eskinazi for the fourth wicket.

But Middlesex slipped from 151-4 to 221 all out, despite John Simpson (35) digging in, before Tom Helm (2-14) nabbed a brace to reduce Worcestershire to 9-2.

Law said: "I still think we are under-achieving. To have only one hundred from our top six this season...

"I'm not saying the wicket was easy to get runs on but someone has got to stick their hand up.

"We all know that against the new ball it is difficult but once John Simpson came in, once he got through a difficult start he started to look pretty comfortable.

"You can score runs on that wicket but the application needs to be improved. The determination is there but we need to get a better output.

"We've had seven innings now and to only pass 300 twice is a bit concerning but the boys know it's not where we want to be.

"It's not acceptable and we've got to start doing something about it. We've had the conversations. Talk is cheap and we've got to see it in action.

"We are still in the contest. I thought the opening burst from Tom Helm was easily the best he has bowled this year so far and Tim Murtagh was reliable.

"We just need to find the back-up. Once you start like that, we can't let them off the hook as easily as we did.

"Once again we've had a tough conversation in there and we've got to be ready to come back and knock over those poles."