So, to the first Twenty20 match of the year at Lord's, Middlesex vs Essex. Middlesex won the toss and decided to bat. Paul Stirling and Chris Rogers opened and String was caught off Tim Southee in the first over for 0. Scott Newman was next in and he thumped a six into the tavern off Scott Styris then pointed out to the umpire it was a no-ball as there were too many players outside the fielding circle as Middlesex raced to 44 off the first 5 overs. Southee's 2nd over brought the wicket of Newman for 22 bringing in Neil Dexter who thumped a six into the Mound Stand. Rogers then joined in the fun, heaving another six square before Ravi Bopara had him caught by Foster for 25 to leave the Panthers 67-3. John Simpson helped Dexter steady the total before Dexter was LBW to Tim Phillips for 30. Simpson, however then fell in the 17th over and Josh Davey then started hitting Southee but then in the 19th failed to get bat on ball for each of the first four balls of the over, he finished with 3-21. 12 off the final over by Graham Napier as Ryan McLaren finished 15 off 9 in 148-5. This was later boosted to 150 as a Dexter hit for four was deemed a six.
The first over of the Essex reply brought a flying catch at gully by McLaren off Steve Crook to remove Ravi Bopara for a duck. Steve Finn found Mark Pettini's outside edge first ball for Simpson to take an easy catch and went on to bowl a wicket maiden so that Essex were, incredibly, 1-2. Matt Walker and Owais Shah, playing against his former employer, upped the rate and Shah smacked McLaren into the Grand Stand for his first six. Walker then fell in the sixth over top edging Finn (2-26) to Dexter for 11. Dutchman Ryan Ten Doeschate again played to get Shah on strike who was out to prove a point as he murdered anything short as the total began to climb and at the halfway point Essex were one behind Middlesex at the same stage. Tom Smith's left-arm spin had a good day as Ten Doeschate was LBW for 17 and in his next over Smith had Styris stumped for 7. As James Foster came in Essex were 88-5 and the match was still in the balance.
Then the big turning point occured, with Foster on 7 he heaved Smith towards the Grand Stand, but hit it flat and straight to Anthony Ireland, who grabbed it, only to see it bounce out, off his knee, and down. This appeared to break the Middlesex spirit as Shah reached his 50 off 38 balls. Ireland then had his bowling demolished by both players as 50 came in 19 balls and the end arrived in the 19th over with Crook bowling a no-ball that Shah swung into the grand-stand for his 5th six to take him to 78 off 50, a thumping innings with Foster 30 off 18. So Essex in the end cruised to victory by five wickets to consign Middlesex to their third defeat in three games.
