Samit Patel returned to form with a century as Nottinghamshire picked up a draw against Middlesex to maintain their position in the second promotion spot in Division Two of the LV County Championship.

Notts 473 (Fleming 110, Wagh 92, Read 61, Franks 46)
Middlesex 472 (Adams 4-127)
Notts 456-7 dec (Patel 112, Wagh 94, Fleming 81, Jefferson 73)
Scorecard

Middlesex 12 points, Notts 11 points

The hosts started the match 40 points behind Notts with a game in hand and needing a win to close the gap.

Notts picked an extra batsman in Bilal Shafayat to try and guarantee a strong first innings total and the plan worked to perfection as they racked up maximum batting points after winning the toss.

Although both Will Jefferson and Jason Gallian fell early on, Mark Wagh and Stephen Fleming maintained their excellent recent form to add 188 for the third wicket.

Although Wagh fell eight short of a hundred, Fleming went on to make his third century in four matches, while Chris Read made 61 and Paul Franks a useful 46 coming in at number 10 on the second morning.

With the extra batsman picked, Fleming only had four frontline bowlers to call upon but fellow Kiwi Andre Adams stuck manfully to his task, sending down 43 overs to pick up four wickets as Middlesex ended one short of the Notts total on day three.

The only disappointment was that Notts missed out on the final bowling point, after failing to bowl out the hosts inside the first 130 overs.

Notts only needed to bat for time in their second innings to deny Middlesex victory and with Jefferson and Wagh both making half-centuries, Middlesex turned to their part-time bowlers with the match heading for a draw.

Patel helped himself to a century from 147 balls while Fleming cracked four sixes and eight fours in 81 from 91 balls before handing Andrew Strauss only the second wicket of his career.

The draw leaves Notts on 189.5 points with two games to play, while Essex are on 160 points and Middlesex 150.5, who still have a game in hand.