James Haris admitted Middlesex were ‘really happy’ with their position after day two of the County Championship Division Two match with Durham.
Having resumed at 87-7 in reply to Durham's 147, the home side reached 143 thanks to some lower-order defiance.
And Harris (3-43) and Steven Finn (3-49) then shone with the ball to dismiss Durham for 191 in their second innings, with Middlesex closing on 21-0 and needing another 175 to winn.
Harris said: "We're really happy - we'd have taken that. To be 80-odd for seven overnight put us in a tough spot and the lower order did really well to get us to parity.
"I haven't bowled anywhere near as well as I'd have liked this summer, so to have a couple of pretty good days with the ball is quite pleasing.
"We stuck at it all day, the four seamers and a few overs from George Scott. I think we've done that well in this game - no-one's let the pressure drift. We've all come on and been able to exude the same pressure as the guy before and that was always the plan.
"When you've got a good seam attack, that's what they do - as we've seen with Australia in the Test series - and we've executed really well over the two days so far."
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