Yorkshire paceman Deon Kruis will long remember yesterday as being the day on which he bowled well enough to dismiss both Hutton and Compton.

Not the legendary Len and Denis, of course, but their grandsons, Ben Hutton and Nick Compton, who opened up for Middlesex at Scarborough after they had been put in to bat in the crunch match which will almost certainly see the losers relegated to the Championship's Second Division at the end of the season.

It was a bold move by Craig White to stick the visitors in and Kruis worked hard to justify the decision by returning his season's best figures of 5-60.

But Middlesex hit back strongly through an unbeaten 124 from left-hander Paul Weekes and at the close were in a commanding state at 354-9.

Yorkshire gave a Championship debut to all-rounder Ajmal Shahzad, who bowled a steady first spell after Kruis and Matthew Hoggard had shared the new ball.

Kruis swung and seamed the ball more effectively than the England man, and in the South African's second over he knocked back Compton's stumps with a magnificent delivery.

Kruis struck again by pinning Owais Shah lbw before he had scored and then Hutton, watched by his father Richard, was caught behind fencing at Kruis and Middlesex were 39-3.

Shahzad and Anthony McGrath took over the attack but were less effective and positive strokeplay by Ed Smith and Scott Styris moved the score on to 111-3 by lunch.

Kruis returned after the interval and promptly had Smith edging a second catch to Simon Guy for 56 from 96 deliveries with nine boundaries.

Styris and Paul Weekes continued Middlesex's revival with a 71-stand in 18 overs before Hoggard induced Styris to snick a ball to second slip where McGrath held a superb two-handed catch which came to him like a thunderbolt.

In the over after tea, Weekes completed the third half-century of the innings before he lost David Nash who pushed tentatively forward at Kruis.

It became 246-7 when leg-spinner Adil Rashid picked up his first wicket by having Chris Peploe caught at slip off a googly but Weekes and Chad Keegan with their eighth-wicket alliance caused further frustration.

Weekes moved confidently to his first century in a year off 173 balls with 12 fours and after he had lost Louw to a slip catch off Hoggard at 348, last man Chris Silverwood came in to drive his first ball from his former colleague to the boundary to bring Middlesex a fourth batting bonus point.