Morgan the Magnificent

The final (probably ever) 40 over game for Middlesex was against Leicestershire at Lord's on August bank holiday. Eoin Morgan was captaining Middlesex in his last game before going off on England duty, won the toss and fielded, and it began fairly evenly as an early pull for six from Greg Smith over the short square boundaries was tempered by Josh Cobb departing for six driving Finn to mid off. Ned Eckersley joined Smith in adding a 50 partnership to lay a solid foundation, Smith reaching 50 off 61 balls before slicing into the deep off Ravi Patel for 56, 91-2. Eckersley and Matt Boyce kicked on in the 2nd half of the innings, lofting the ball over the short boundary as Eckersley completed 50 from 53 balls and looked set for a hundred, before smearing Harris to Roland-Jones in the deep for 73, 186-3 and a good total on the cards.
Boyce then brought up the 200 and reached his 50 from 51 balls, then sliced to point for 53, to give Ollie Wilkin his first wicket. Wilkin then had two in five as Mike Thornley edged behind having a huge swing, 222-5 with 3 overs left. Two balls later Rob Taylor holed out off Roland-Jones for 5, 226-6, things were getting a bit tense as Middlesex were running out of time to finish their overs as Patel rushed to complete the 39th over. Ben Raine smashed a six, then smashed to Morgan in the deep and (after a six run ppenalty as Middlesex failed to finish their overs in time) Shiv Thakor top edged Harris to Finn at fine leg, 248-8. Then Harris had another final over meltdown like he had against Somerset, as Tom Wells as three balls disappeared for four, and a no ball bouncer was iced by a short ball whacked into the Grand Stand and the final ball of the innings a length ball that was smoked over extra cover into the Mound Stand, Wells making 31 off 11 balls, the last over costing 32 with the penalty and Leicestershire making a challenging 274-8.
Straight away Dawid Malan edged Rob Taylor behind first ball and then Paul Stirling lost his middle stump to Nathan Buck as Middlesex slumped to 22-2. Joe Denly and Eoin Morgan revived the chase with a quick 72, Morgan looking particularly good against the spinners. Denly then chipped a return catch to James Sykes who had to dive over non-striker Morgan to complete the catch, 94-3.
Adam Voges, also his last game, joined Morgan as the skip reached 50 from 43 balls, leaving Middlesex needing 143 with 20 overs left. Morgan raced onwards adding 81 in 9 overs and moved onto 90 before scooping the ball to Smith off Thakor for 90 from 63, a great knock, but with 100 still needed, job not finished. Voges then fell in identical fashion for 37 and at 198-5 Leicestershire were back in the game. Enter John Simpson, who along with Wilkin, went on the attack and found the boundary as Taylor and Buck wilted under pressure, and it was down to 18 off 20 when Wilkin top edged to third man for a handy 20. But there was to be no panic, as Simpson swung Taylor for a short six, completed a 37 ball 50, and then hit back to back boundaries off Buck ending it with a late cut, to win by 4 wickets with 10 balls to spare, Simpson unbeaten with 58 off 39. A pleasing end for what was a solid one day season.

Wham Bam, More Malan

Time for some floodlight cricket, Middlesex vs Somerset at Lord's, Middlesex won the toss and fielded meaning we got to see an early burst of the in form openers Marcus Trescothick and Pete Trego. It was only until the fourth over that the first boundary as Harris went for six and four over midwicket by Trescothick as Somerset raced to 50 in the 7th over, thanks to another six from Trescothick. The chaos soon stopped, with Ollie Rayner striking in his first over to bowl Trescothick for 41, and when Trego then edged Harris to Rossington for 35, it was 85-2. Things got better, with Nick Compton (6) hitting Rayner to Dexter at midwicket, 85-3 and the scoring rate now collapsed. James Hildreth and Dean Elgar plodded along, before Rayner picked up his third, Elgar swinging to Dexter at cover for 24, 121-4. Middlesex kept the pressure on and soon Alex Barrow fell, popping a return catch to Paul Stirling for 15, 158-5. In the midst of this, Hildreth completed a 72 ball 50 with his 2nd four. The spinner exerting good pressure on the middl order, which seemed to be wilting.
186-5 with five overs left, and Arul Suppiah gave Murtagh a wicket for 10, heaving to Malan in the deep, and Meschede came and went stumped off Roland-Jones (but not before hitting the same bowler into the pavilion) for 12. We come to the final over with Hildreth on strike, Harris serve up the first ball on a length, and it disappears into the Grand Stand over midwicket, the second ball is similar, and gets the same treatment. The third is fuller, and is swing squarer into the grand stand for another 6, the fourth sails away for four, and Hildreth completed a great hundred by reverse paddling a final full toss through third man for four, 102 off 94 balls as Somerset finished 247-7. Rayner the best bowler with 3-31 from his 8.
Stirling and Malan gave Middlesex a solid if unspectacular start, with runs coming fairly easily, as they kept up with the required rate, Stirling hitting consecutive fours off Kirby and Malan hitting Trego for a big six over midwicket. Stirling slammed Meschede to mid off to go for 27 with the score on 71, but this didn't put Malan off, who was hitting boundaries freely and completed 50 from 48 balls. His cover drives were particularly well hit and Joe Denly didn't want to be left out, striking Suppiah into the Tavern Stand for a huge six. The carnage didn't stop, Overton no-ball, hit for four, Waller drags one down, hit for four as the 150 came up in the 24th over. But the came wasn't over, as Denly top edged a sweep off Max Waller where Barrow took a good high catch running back for 31 from 40. Chris Roger went next over, edging Jamie Overton to slip where Trescothick took a sharp catch at the second attempt, with Barrow diving in front of him. Overton then had Rossington trapped LBW for 6, before Malan edged Meschede to Barrow for 99 off 100 balls, having looked nervous throughout the 90s with wickets falling around him, it was a poor end to a great innings.
The game was looking a bit more dodgy, 185-5, needing 63 off nine overs with 5 wickets left. Dexter and Berg took up the challenge, scoring steadily in the powerplay and had whittled it down to 30 off 24 when Meschede bowled a full toss, which Dexter nailed into the Grand Stand for six, and even though Berg swiped to Elgar at mid on off Meschede, Rayner (12 off 7) and Dexter (39) saw them home, a sweep from Rayner going for four to seal a nervy four wicket win with 5 balls to spare. Rayner given man of the match by Sky.

Sixes in the Sun

Essex vs Scotland in the YB40 at Chelmsford began with Scotland winning the toss and fielding on a sunny day and a dry looking pitch. It looked like a good decision as Gordon Goudie had Tom Westly LBw for nought fourth ball. New overseas signing Hamish Rutherford, having done his bit for New Zealand and Mark Pettini looked to take advantage of the small boundaries and Rutherford hit the first six in the ninth over. The score was on 41 when Callum Burnett's first ball was hoisted straight to Drummond in the deep as Pettini departed for 23 and Owais Shah lasted only three balls with Ewan Chalmers taking the catch as Essex were in a bit of trouble on 49-3, but this brought together the big partnership that would shape the innings, as Ryan Ten Doeschate came in and started with a boundary to bring up the 50. Rutherford started to accelerate now that he was in, launching a six off Burnett and consecutive fours off Michael Leask to bring up a 48 ball 50 as the 100 came up in the 19th over.
Rutherford was eyeing his hundred, taking 13 off an over from Burnett before greeting Moneeb Iqbal with consecutive sixes from his first two balls as 16 came off the over. Ten Doeschate obviously felt left out, in his first game back after the IPL, so swung MacLeod for six, Iqbal for six (and a 51 ball 50), and then Goudie for six before Rutherford completed a ton on debut with his 6th six off Goudie (80 balls), after being badly dropped the over before off Iqbal. Then came the first big over the innings, Drummond disappeared for 21 all off the bat of ten Doeschate, two massive sixes over the midwicket boundary after two fours as the floodgates opened in the final 12 overs. Ten Doescate completed a 72 ball hundred in the next over, and was to celebrate in style.
Captain Mommsen decided, after the massacre Drummond got, to bring Burnett back on from the Hayes Close end, and it Burnett lost it against ten Doeschate. The first ball sailed over midwicket for six, the 2nd was a waist high no ball, for a single, the third and fourth went for four and one to Rutherford, the fifth went for another six, then the sixth was a waist high full toss that cleared the stand at midwicket. This meant Burnett was removed for bowling two high full tosses in the over, so Mommsen was to finish it, the 7th ball was swung down to the fine leg boundary for four and the eighth was a short ball that ten Doeschate just missed hitting swinging at, and could only scramble a leg bye, all in all 33 came off the over and Essex were 270-3 with 8 overs remaining.
Goudie went went for six off ten Doeschate, but Rutherford (who had been largely forgotten) couldn't repeat the shot, and was well held by MacLeod at long on for 110 off 88 balls, 279-4. Ten Doeschate soon completed his 150 from 89 balls (after the departure of Napier for 3) celebrated by thumping Mommsen for four then six, six, six and six, all of them huge blows straight or over midwicket. But a double hundred was not to be as a huge hoick at Leask left two of his stumps removed for a commanding 180 made from 98 balls with 11 fours and a competition record 15 sixes. Saj Mahmood (2) didn't last long but Phillips and Foster took the score past 350 to a massive 368-7.
Scotland's reply started poorly, as overseas Tom Latham was bowled by Phillips fourth ball for three. Freddie Coleman and Gordon Goudie decided the best plan was to attack, but it wasn't long before they both went. Coleman ran one, the throw whizzed past the stumps and Coleman charged back for an otherthrow, but Goudie was slow in setting off, so Napier had enough time to take the ball and run out Goudie for 18. Coleman fell LBW for 12 in the same over and Scotland were 38-3. MacLeod chipped at catch to Shah off Mahmood for 5 and it was 55-4, with the small matter of another 300 needed at 10 an over. Chalmers and Mommsen did their best, but they fell for 34 and 42 within an over of each other to ten Doeschate (who else?) as it was now 131-6. Iqbal then had some run, thumping Phillips for two sixes in an over before being run out by ten Doeschate for 30. Leask went for three and with six overs left, Scotland neeed 196 with two wickets left. Matt Cross and Burnett added some respectability to the score, messing up ten Doeschate's figures with an 18 run over as he completed a 40 ball 50 as he finished 54 not out and Burnett 31 not out as Essex won by 125 runs with Scotland 241-8.

Vikings No More

Middlesex went over to their new base away from Lord's to take on Yorkshire Vikings in a YB40 game at Radlett.
Yorkshire won the toss and batted, this soon looked like an interesting move as they found themselves 18-2, Toby Roland-Jones bagging Andrew Gale, caught on the boundary by Joe Denly and Rich Pyrah caught by Eoin Morgan at point. Gary Ballance and Phil Jacques then rebuilt the innings, and Ballance in particular enjoyed swinging sixes, four of them, but, after the fourth, tried to swing Gareth Berg for another, only to be well caught by Paul Stirling on the boundary for 40, 103-3 after 20 overs. They would have been looking for 260 or so, with a good platform laid, a sunny day and a flat pitch.
Jacques completed a sensible 50 from 68 balls with a tidy three and then cut loose, taking Berg for 3 consecutive fours before knocking the ball around for easy runs as he and Adam Lyth brought up the 50 partnership in the 28th over, but then James Harris got the crucial break, Lyth fell caught behind by Adam Rossington for 14 and three balls later Jacques was caught by Morgan for an excellent 81 off 86.
Rashid and Andy Hodd added a quick 52 for the 6th wicket before Hodd was bowled by Roland-Jones then Tim Bresnan's England warm up went well, holing out to Stirling off Harris for a duck next over. 28 came off the final three overs, with Will Rhodes (10) giving Roland-Jones his best figures in this format (4-44) as Yorkshire finished 236-8 with Rashid unbeaten on 46.
The Middlesex reply started badly, Stirling having his stumps detonated for a 2nd ball duck by Iain Wardlaw, but Denly and Malan began to find boundaries quickly and had brought up the 50 partnership in the ninth over. Denly had reached 38 off 34 when he was bowled by Pyrah on 65. This brought in the big fish Morgan, but he wasn't to have much impact on the chase, attempting to reverse sweep Rashid first ball, he was given LBW, though acted as is he thought he's hit it, 65-3 and Yorkshire back in this and Rossington in only fourth game now joining Malan.
The pair soon took on the bowling, Malan in particular began to cut loose now finding boundaries with regularity as the required rate never went much above 6 an over and the first six was to come with Malan swinging Rhodes over midwicket soon after reaching a 59 ball 50. He raced from 51 to 88 in 18 balls but was not to have a deserved hundred, fishing at Bresnan outside off to edge though to Hodd for 91 off 88 balls with 10 fours and 2 sixes. At 201-4 this left 36 needed from the final 10 overs, Rossington, having reached his own 50 from 49 balls, saw Middlesex home to a six wicket win with 26 balls to spare in an unbeaten 79, a comprehensive win at the new "home away from home".

North Sends Middlesex South

Middlesex's first game of the new 40 over season began with Glamorgan at Lord's. Middlesex won the toss and fielded, which soon looked a bit dodgy, as Will Bragg targeted the short boundary early, and had reached 30 in 7 overs when Toby Roland-Jones removed Mark Wallace for 7, caught by Dawid Malan at first slip. The over got better as Chris Cooke pushed his third ball to cover and set off for the single, only for Joe Denly to field the ball and hurl down the stumps at the Pavilion End with Cooke short of his ground for nought, 38-2.

This brought in Marcus North, who set about milking the the change bowlers as they eased along at 5 an over up to the 18th over, as Bragg passed 50 from 53 balls. At the halfway stage, Glamorgan were 107-2 and looking set to a make a big score, with North going to his 50 from 47 balls. Finally a wicket fell, Bragg edging a ball from Josh Davey to Tom Smith at short third man, who took a good catch to go for 62, 124-3. This only brought in Jim Allenby, who gave North plenty of the strike, which set up a charge in the final 10 overs, Smith going for 13 in an over, before Neil Dexter was swung into the Grand Stand next over, before a quick two from North brought up his 100 from 81 balls as the runs flowed easily, the 100 partnership came, then Allenby reached his 50 from 39 balls. The last four overs brought a further 52 runs, Allenby finishing with 69 off 50, and North a majestic 137 off 98 balls, 16 fours and 3 sixes. Glamorgan's 280-3 was their highest against Middlesex and would take some chasing.
Malan and Chris Rogers opened the batting, and managed to take 11 off the first two overs, and then looked set with 42 after six, as Glamorgan weren't that accurate, giving away early wides. The charge couldn't last, as Rogers got a leading edge off Allenby to Murray Goodwin at cover, to go for 22, 43-1. Paul Stirling and Malan played sensibly, scoring runs where they could, but with the score on 79, Malan (35) pushed a ball from Will Owen to Dean Cosker at point. Then the innings fell away somewhat, even though Stirling swiped boundary to the short boundaries, as Denly was caught behind by Mark Wallace off Owen for 11, 107-3 after 18. Owen made it two in three balls by bowling the big fish of Stirling for 36 off 34, 110-4. Gareth Berg and Dexter took up the challenge with the required rate rising, with Berg hitting consecutive boundaries off Cosker, then Dexter hammering Hogan down the ground for six.
But the partnership ended at 60, Dexter chopping Hogan to Cooke on the point boundary for 24, 170-5. John Simpson quickly followed, giving Mike Reed an easy catch off Wagg on the cover fence for 1. Berg carried on hitting, Allenby walloped for six, then Owen for four and then six more into the Grand Stand as Berg reached 50 from 40 balls. Davey fell for 5, swinging an Allenby full toss to Cooke and Roland-Jones for a run a ball 12, leaving 56 from the last four overs. Berg hit two more fours, but was cleaned up by a Michael Hogan yorker for 75 from 57 as Middlesex finished 254-9 losing by 26 runs. North earning man of the match for his captain's innings