Middlesex captain Dawid Malan was pleased to see his side complete their 117-run win over Derbyshire at Lord’s on Friday.

After declaring on their overnight 199-7 to see the visitors 328 to win in three sessions, Malan saw Tim Murtagh (4-55) and Ethan Bamber (3-35) combine well to dismiss Derbyshire for 210, as Billy Godleman carried his bat to score an unbeaten 105.

Sam Robson scored 207 runs in the match for Middlesex, while Max Holden claimed his maiden century for the county with an unbeaten 119.

And Malan said: “It was probably back to an old-school Lord’s wicket and that suits the way we play.

“It’s nice for guys to play on a wicket where they can trust their defences and get runs. It showed that if we do play as well as we can in conditions that suit us, we can get big scores and win games.

“A lot of good players have struggled this year when the conditions were really tough. It’s a good win for us but there’s still a lot of improvements to be made as a team.”

A sixth win in 13 matches left Middlesex in fourth place heading into their final fixture of the campaign at Durham starting on Monday.

And Malan admits it has been particularly tough for spin bowlers this season, adding: “I think we’ve got to make up our minds whether we want to have a heavy roller or a toss rule.

“The toss rule was brought in to aid spinners and we haven’t played a spinner in several games at Lord’s this year. So if the rule was brought in to help spinners, it isn’t working.

“Derbyshire thoroughly outplayed us in the first game and deserved to win. So it was nice to come here and put a good result on the board and put a good performance in.”