Worcestershire 265 and 33 for 2 need a further 325 runs to beat Middlesex 339 and 283 for 6 dec (du Plooy 101*)
Middlesex are in the box seat to claim a crucial Rothesay County Championship victory over Worcestershire after a magnificent Leus du Plooy century helped the visitors dominate day three at New Road.
The skipper's imperious unbeaten ton anchored his side's total of 283 for 6 declared, with Joe Cracknell (46) playing the most significant supporting role as the visitors kept the Pears at arm's length throughout.
Put back in with 14 overs left in the day, Worcestershire's chase of an imposing 358 began in dreadful circumstances when Jake Libby was run out without facing a ball, quickly followed by Dan Lategan. The hosts closed on 33 for 2, with Middlesex on pole, needing eight wickets on the final day to seal victory.
Sam Robson and Ben Geddes showed staunch defence to navigate their way through a testing first hour on the third morning at New Road, getting through unscathed after Tom Taylor had posed plenty of questions early on.
Middlesex cashed in, with Geddes accessing the off-side boundary with growing ease as the morning went on, alleviating some pressure in the process. The pair passed fifty with growing confidence, but it was the return of Ben Allison that proved pivotal, when a superb low catch at first slip by Henry Cullen sealed the fate of the stubborn Robson for 23.
Featuring in his first Rothesay County Championship match of the summer, the fit-and-firing seamer showed what his side had been missing when he grabbed a second wicket of the morning by pinning Geddes lbw.
With the door ajar, there was another twist in the tale as Ethan Brookes castled Max Holden with the final ball of the session, as Middlesex left for lunch ahead by 156 runs with seven wickets in hand.
The visitors stalled the first over into the afternoon at 83 for 4 as Tom Taylor ended Caleb Falconer's brief stay at the crease with a hooping inswinger that pinned the youngster lbw.
Du Plooy battened down the hatches, but Worcestershire squandered the chance to take the prize wicket of the skipper on 26, when Brookes failed to hang onto a thick edge at first slip. With Cracknell bedding in, the pair eased their side back into the ascendancy with a comfortable fifty run stand in the afternoon sun at New Road, with the keeper batter playing the legspin of Brett D'Oliveira with relative ease.
Du Plooy notched his fifty from 106 balls, in a two-and-a-half-hour knock of real class, but his team were pegged back once more when Harry Darley, on as an injury replacement for Adam Finch, claimed the wicket of Cracknell for 46 just five deliveries into his spell.
The seamer was making things happen, with another huge chance going begging when Eathan Bosch edged between Roderick and Brookes with neither committing to the chance, as Middlesex made it to tea 194 for 5, leading by 268.
Darley struck for a second time in what had been a whirlwind afternoon when he dismissed Bosch for 16, but shortly after du Plooy moved to a fine century from 163 balls, the visitors declared on 283 for 6, setting Worcestershire an imposing 358 to win.
Libby was left helpless when he was run out on the fifth ball of the innings as Toby Roland-Jones deflected a ball driven straight back to the non-striker's end that careered into the stumps, leaving Worcestershire 0 for 1.
Zafar Gohar crowned an excellent evening session with the wicket of Lategan late in the day, as the visitors ended the day well on top.
