TOM Fell scored a career-best 143 to help earn Worcestershire a first-innings lead of 76 on the third day of the LV= County Championship match with Middlesex at Uxbridge.

Worcestershire then picked up three wickets before the hosts wiped out the deficit to keep their Division One victory hopes alive.

Middlesex eventually closed on 140-3 from 48 overs for a lead of 64 with Paul Stirling unbeaten on 39 and Aussie Joe Burns on 29 not out.

Fell, who was born near Uxbridge in Hillingdon, completed his fourth Championship century with a 16th boundary from 174 balls out of 249-5 in the 86th over.

His second ton of the season followed 114 in the opening game against Yorkshire at New Road.

The 21-year-old was eventually eighth out on 332, having batted for 311 minutes and faced 228 balls with 22 fours and one six.

Big hitting from Jack Shantry enabled Worcestershire to claim four batting points before they were bowled out for 385 in the 117th over.

The County had resumed the day on 195-3 and lost Alex Gidman, Joe Clarke and Ben Cox in reaching 297-6 by lunch.

Tim Murtagh made the first breakthrough with Gidman, who had not added to his overnight 30, bowled.

Clarke looked in good touch and brought up the 200 in the 76th over.

He collected successive boundaries off Middlesex skipper James Franklin but the first over with the new ball on 224-4 led to his undoing for 17, trapped lbw by Murtagh.

The 250 came up in the 88th over but then Cox (6) fell to a sharp catch by Ollie Rayner at second slip off James Harris.

Fell, who had reached his century, and Joe Leach (19) played positively either side of lunch, adding 50 in just under 12 overs before the latter went for a big drive and was bowled by Harris.

Fell eventually succumbed to a Sam Robson catch off Toby Roland-Jones before Shantry hit the same bowler for successive sixes.

A two by Shantry in the 110th over secured the fourth batting bonus point and he was given good support by Saeed Ajmal in a ninth-wicket stand of 53 in 10 overs.

Murtagh (4-76) bowled Ajmal (20) and Charlie Morris (0) in three balls to leave Shantry unbeaten on 41 with three fours and two sixes.

Middlesex opener Robson had fallen to Morris’ first ball on the opening day and only survived one more at the second attempt for a pair of ducks as he nicked through to Cox.

Nick Gubbins and Nick Compton added 49 by tea but both fell in quick succession.

Ajmal claimed his first Championship wicket since returning to New Road when he bowled Gubbins (23).

Shantry picked up the key wicket of Compton (47), who edged through to Gidman at first slip on 73-3.

But Burns and Stirling were relatively untroubled in posting an unbroken stand of 67.