If there is a bit of needle in this match, it all goes back to the first over of the Middlesex first innings, when Warwickshire were convinced they had Stevie Eskinazi out first ball – in other words before he had scored even one of the 179 runs he eventually accrued. Caught at gully was the claim but the umpires decided the deflection had come off pad with no bat involved. Eskinazi was reminded of that before and after he was dismissed without scoring last night, when feelings were running high enough for the umpires to tell Rikki Clarke and Keith Barker told to calm down. Nick Compton and Dawid Malan have survived a couple of hearty appeals this morning, although the latter has now gone, leg before to a ball from Barker to which he was not forward enough on this pitch. Middlesex require another 180 to win.