Yorkshire's title-winning party was delayed another day as Nick Compton led a fine fightback from Middlesex on day three at Lord's.
The White Rose secured the LV= County Championship title for the second successive year on day one, having bowled out the hosts for 106, but what looked set to be a comfortable victory now appears a battle to avoid defeat after Middlesex reached stumps 573 for eight.
Compton, resuming on 86, reached 149 before falling to James Middlebrook, while Toby Roland-Jones added an unbeaten 103 to give his side a lead of 380 heading into the final day.
Roland-Jones' maiden ton came in an unbroken stand of 146 with James Harris (67), and leaves Yorkshire the task of avoiding their first defeat since April 2014 before they can lift the trophy.
Nottinghamshire kept up their push for second with a thrilling 52-run victory over Durham at Trent Bridge.
The hosts trailed by 168 on first innings but Samit Patel's century helped Notts compile 382 and set Durham 214 to win.
And Brett Hutton took a career-best five for 29 to help skittle out the 2013 champions for 162.
During the innings, Paul Collingwood passed 10,000 first-class runs for Durham before falling one run later, becoming Chris Read's 1,000th first-class dismissal in the process.
At the other end of Division One, Jimmy Adams led a resolute Hampshire fightback against Somerset in a contest which could prove crucial in the battle to avoid the drop.
Having conceded a first-innings lead of 390 when the hosts extended their score to 630 for nine declared in the morning session, the visitors closed on 258 for one, with Adams unbeaten on 117.
Somerset will have the second new ball available at the start of the final day and will look to break up Adams' 112-run partnership with James Vince (69).
In Division Two, Essex completed a comprehensive innings-and-188-run victory away at Derbyshire.
Ryan ten Doeschate took three wickets for one run in nine balls, while Ravi Bopara returned four for 29 as Derbyshire subsided tamely to 182 for eight, with injuries preventing Tony Palladino and Shiv Thakor batting for the hosts.
Glamorgan must bat out day four to avoid defeat to Kent after slipping to 101 for two before bad light ended play early in Cardiff.
Set a notional 554 to win, Kent removed Jeremy Lawlor and David Lloyd cheaply but James Kettleborough (52) and Colin Ingram (42) shared an unbroken 78-run partnership before play was suspended.
Source: PA
