Josh Baker has shared his joy at scoring his maiden half century for Worcestershire as he made his first appearance at Lord’s on day two of the County Championship match with Middlesex.

Baker hit 61 from 51 balls, not out, at the Home of Cricket as the Pears finished with 171 runs, a 27 run first innings lead.

His inspired performance made up for a largely disappointing showing from higher up the order, with only Gareth Roderick’s 42 worthy of note.

18-year-old Baker acknowledged that he had adapted his technique after recent struggles in the red ball game.

He said: “I’ve never been to Lord’s before, so it’s really nice to get a first-class fifty, and to do it here.

“I was trying to play positively and be proactive after a couple of weeks of getting ducks and stuff, so I changed it up a bit and it came off.

“We were looking to get within about 10 runs of them and anything after that was a bonus.

“Once we got ahead, we were just trying to get as many as possible and quickly.”

Middlesex replied with a 233-6 stint in their second innings however rain meant play was not able to take place on day three.

Joe Leach kept the home side’s openers quiet with five successive maidens in his first spell before Charlie Morris made the breakthrough, striking out Mark Stoneman who finished with a duck from 36 balls.

Morris struck again before lunch, Roderick making a superb catch, as Middlesex finished the session on 35-2.

In the afternoon Morris claimed a third wicket, Rob White the victim on this occasion.

Leach, Dillon Pennington and new signing Ed Barnard also claimed wickets.

Worcestershire go into the final day 206 behind, needing four more wickets before they begin their chase but Baker remains confident the team have what it takes.

He said: “They fought back strongly but I think the games quite evenly balanced at the minute, and the wicket’s getting a lot flatter.

“Whatever Middlesex set us for the final innings, we’d back our batters to chase it down.”