Yorkshire’s bowlers dominated against Middlesex at Lord’s today to give themselves every chance of completing the win they need to go top of the LV= Division One table.

Making good use of both cloudy conditions and a pitch which rewarded effort, Andrew Gale’s attack dismissed their hosts for 175 and then, having enforced the follow-on, reduced them to 137-4 in their second innings.

That means Middlesex still need 78 runs with six wickets in hand to make Yorkshire bat again.

There was not a session which Gale’s men did not win today and barely a passage of play in which they did not strengthen their credentials as a side capable of challenging for the title.

The morning session set the tone as Yorkshire’s three pace bowlers reduced Middlesex to 67-4 at the break, Ryan Sidebottom making the first breakthough when he had Joe Denly caught at third slip by Joe Sayers for two.

Chris Rogers and Adam London then put on 27 for the third wicket but Liam Plunkett claimed the key scalp of Rogers for 27 in his first over when the Australian edged him to wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd.

Yorkshire’s morning imp-roved again when Steve Patterson had Neil Dexter lbw for 11 but the first session was merely a prelude to the later destruction of Middlesex’s batting. Six wickets fell in the afternoon, three of them to Plunkett, who took 4-50 on his return to the championship side, and two to Patterson, who finished with 4-39 and has now dismissed 24 batsmen in Division One this season. For their part, the Middlesex batsmen found neither run-scoring nor survival any easier in the afternoon than they had in the morning.

Gareth Berg’s 54 provided the only prolonged resistance.

Having taken the decision to enforce the follow-on, the first time Yorkshire have inflicted this indignity on Middlesex since 1968, Gale found his decision justified in the first over when Sidebottom had Rogers caught behind for nought.

The rest of the day belonged to leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who winkled out three batsmen to leave Rogers’ men in severe peril going into the final day.