A CLOSE RUN AFFAIR
Middlesex 161, Lancashire 162-8
On a surprisingly sunny day in view of the two previous days' rain and the paucity of the summer so far Lancashire County Cricket Club returned to Blackpool's Stanley Park for a Royal London One-Day Cup tie against Middlesex. And in a relatively low scoring but pulsating game Lancashire came out on top by two wickets, successfully chasing down Middlesex's modest total of 161.
As the 10-30am start time approached the crowd inside was growing steadily and spectators were still queuing around the ground when umpires Jeremy Lloyds and Neil Bainton walked out to the middle to be followed by the Lancashire side, whose captain Stephen Croft had won the toss and elected to field.
Sam Robson and Dawid Malan opened the Middlesex innings to the bowling of Tom Bailey and Gavin Griffiths, both who produced some hostile bowling in their opening overs. Malan had struck three boundaries in his 14 when he was the first to go when he got an outside edge to a rising ball from Bailey and was caught by wicketkeeper Alex Davies with the total on 19.
It was Bailey who struck twice more in relatively quick succession, first forcing Robson, 14, to play on at 28 and then having Nick Compton, six, caught by Jordan Clark with the total on 36. Skipper Eoin Morgan and New Zealand Test player James Franklin began to rebuild the innings as they were faced with the change bowling of Clark and Australian James Faulkner. They succeeded in putting on 31 before Morgan, who had looked comfortable in reaching 17, could not withdraw his bat in time and the resultant edge flew through to Davies: 67-4.
One run and six balls later Nick Gubbins, one, wafted at a ball from Clark only for it to fly straight into the hands of Paul Horton at second slip. With the total on 74 he was followed to the pavilion by Franklin who skied a catch to Bailey when he had made 12 and this gave Griffiths his first wicket for Lancashire in one-day cricket.
Wicketkeeper John Simpson, Lancashire-born, and James Harris decided that they had to consolidate so the scoring rate dropped while they concentrated on getting Middlesex to a reasonable total for at 83-7 it was looking very likely that they would barely reach three figures. The pair took their side beyond that landmark and succeeded in taking the total to 111 before Croft introduced spin in the form of himself and Stephen Parry. And it was Croft who made the breakthrough, trapping the crease-bound Simpson leg before wicket for a hard-fought 20.
Parry meanwhile was somewhat wayward and Harris and Toby Roland-Jones took full advantage of his short-pitched bowling. The pair took their ninth wicket partnership to 50 before, with overs running out, Roland-Jones, 19, tried one lofted drive too many and it landed right in the hands of Griffiths at a wide long-on off Parry, who had changed ends and returned to the attack.
The batsmen had crossed as the ball was in the air so Harris, 32, took the following ball from Parry only to sky a catch to Ashwell Prince at mid-wicket and Middlesex were all out for 161 with three overs and one ball of their 50 overs remaining. For Lancashire Bailey was the most successful bowler, returning 3-31 from his 10 overs but all the bowlers took wickets. Faulkner had 2-27, Parry 2-34 from an expensive 5.5 overs, Griffiths 1-28 and Croft 1-7 from three overs.
It was not the most demanding of totals for Lancashire to chase but there had been some uneven bounce with balls alternatively being taken by the wicketkeeper over head high and then shooting through low forcing the batsmen to dab down on the ball. But it was not the pitch that accounted for the wickets, it was mainly poor shot selection by the batsmen.
Karl Brown and Prince opened for Lancashire in front of an appreciative and expectant crowd of around 2,500 but they were quickly parted as Prince, one, crashed a ball straight to Compton at point with the total on only four. One South African replaced another as Alviro Peterson went to the crease and he and Brown took toll of some loose bowling by Roland-Jones, with Brown in particular driving most beautifully through the off-side. One shot off Middlesex debutant Junaid Khan, who was bowling extremely fast, was particularly scintillating as it flashed to the boundary much to the delight of the crowd.
Peterson had made 14 when he drove Harris into the safe hands of Morgan and it was 49-2. That became 59-3 when Brown, seven fours in his 36, was deceived by Khan and edged a catch to Rayner at slip. Croft made three when he was surprised to see the umpire's finger raised when Simpson appealed for a catch behind the wicket off Khan so he had to depart at 63-4. Middlesex were fighting back as Morgan marshalled his troops extremely effectively.
There was a slight hiatus for the visitors while Paul Horton and Faulkner put on 29 before the former held his bat out to dry and was comfortably taken at slip by Rayner off Franklin for 18. Davies had added the one run to take the total to 93 when the persevering Roland-Jones returned and had him caught behind by Simpson. Middlesex were suddenly feeling in the ascendancy. But Faulkner and Clark soon put a dent in their hopes but not without one heart-stopping moment.
With the total on 100, Clark at the non-striker's end called for a single when the ball went backward of square, Faulkner failed to acknowledge his call and suddenly both batsmen were at one end. As the batsmen were deciding what to do the fielder at backward short leg did not gather the ball cleanly but when he did he threw it to the wicketkeeper. But Clark was in his crease and Faulkner was just setting off for the run; it looked odds on for a run out. However, almost inexplicably it took an eternity for the ball to be thrown to the other end with Faulkner desperately trying to make his ground. That he did so was almost a miracle as the Middlesex bowler fumbled with the ball giving Faulkner just time to ground his bat. It was to prove the turning point of the game.
The pair then continued more serenely and by the time they were parted the game was almost in the bag. They had taken the total to 140 when Faulkner played unnecessarily at a wide ball from Khan and he was gone for a very good 35. And at 147 Clark, 29, was caught by Franklin off Harris and Middlesex just glimpsed a glimmer of hope with only two wickets to fall and 15 runs still required.
But it was to be a false dawn for Parry, nine not out, and Bailey, five not out, saw Lancashire home with no further alarms at 162-8 with two overs unused. Khan was Middlesex's most successful bowler with a fine 3-32 from his 10 rapid overs and there were two wickets each for Harris and Franklin, for 26 and 31 runs respectively, while Roland-Jones returned 1-47. Rayner went wicketless, 0-20 from seven overs, but his nagging short of a length off-spin had contributed to Lancashire's late discomfort.
It was very definitely a day for the bowlers but while the crowd went home happy with the result one of the umpires was spotted demonstrating to ground staff that the track had produced uneven bounce, much to the consternation of the batsmen.
And, although a stiff breeze had got up, the sun was still shining as the crowd made their way out of the ground.
On a surprisingly sunny day in view of the two previous days' rain and the paucity of the summer so far Lancashire County Cricket Club returned to Blackpool's Stanley Park for a Royal London One-Day Cup tie against Middlesex. And in a relatively low scoring but pulsating game Lancashire came out on top by two wickets, successfully chasing down Middlesex's modest total of 161.
As the 10-30am start time approached the crowd inside was growing steadily and spectators were still queuing around the ground when umpires Jeremy Lloyds and Neil Bainton walked out to the middle to be followed by the Lancashire side, whose captain Stephen Croft had won the toss and elected to field.
Sam Robson and Dawid Malan opened the Middlesex innings to the bowling of Tom Bailey and Gavin Griffiths, both who produced some hostile bowling in their opening overs. Malan had struck three boundaries in his 14 when he was the first to go when he got an outside edge to a rising ball from Bailey and was caught by wicketkeeper Alex Davies with the total on 19.
It was Bailey who struck twice more in relatively quick succession, first forcing Robson, 14, to play on at 28 and then having Nick Compton, six, caught by Jordan Clark with the total on 36. Skipper Eoin Morgan and New Zealand Test player James Franklin began to rebuild the innings as they were faced with the change bowling of Clark and Australian James Faulkner. They succeeded in putting on 31 before Morgan, who had looked comfortable in reaching 17, could not withdraw his bat in time and the resultant edge flew through to Davies: 67-4.
One run and six balls later Nick Gubbins, one, wafted at a ball from Clark only for it to fly straight into the hands of Paul Horton at second slip. With the total on 74 he was followed to the pavilion by Franklin who skied a catch to Bailey when he had made 12 and this gave Griffiths his first wicket for Lancashire in one-day cricket.
Wicketkeeper John Simpson, Lancashire-born, and James Harris decided that they had to consolidate so the scoring rate dropped while they concentrated on getting Middlesex to a reasonable total for at 83-7 it was looking very likely that they would barely reach three figures. The pair took their side beyond that landmark and succeeded in taking the total to 111 before Croft introduced spin in the form of himself and Stephen Parry. And it was Croft who made the breakthrough, trapping the crease-bound Simpson leg before wicket for a hard-fought 20.
Parry meanwhile was somewhat wayward and Harris and Toby Roland-Jones took full advantage of his short-pitched bowling. The pair took their ninth wicket partnership to 50 before, with overs running out, Roland-Jones, 19, tried one lofted drive too many and it landed right in the hands of Griffiths at a wide long-on off Parry, who had changed ends and returned to the attack.
The batsmen had crossed as the ball was in the air so Harris, 32, took the following ball from Parry only to sky a catch to Ashwell Prince at mid-wicket and Middlesex were all out for 161 with three overs and one ball of their 50 overs remaining. For Lancashire Bailey was the most successful bowler, returning 3-31 from his 10 overs but all the bowlers took wickets. Faulkner had 2-27, Parry 2-34 from an expensive 5.5 overs, Griffiths 1-28 and Croft 1-7 from three overs.
It was not the most demanding of totals for Lancashire to chase but there had been some uneven bounce with balls alternatively being taken by the wicketkeeper over head high and then shooting through low forcing the batsmen to dab down on the ball. But it was not the pitch that accounted for the wickets, it was mainly poor shot selection by the batsmen.
Karl Brown and Prince opened for Lancashire in front of an appreciative and expectant crowd of around 2,500 but they were quickly parted as Prince, one, crashed a ball straight to Compton at point with the total on only four. One South African replaced another as Alviro Peterson went to the crease and he and Brown took toll of some loose bowling by Roland-Jones, with Brown in particular driving most beautifully through the off-side. One shot off Middlesex debutant Junaid Khan, who was bowling extremely fast, was particularly scintillating as it flashed to the boundary much to the delight of the crowd.
Peterson had made 14 when he drove Harris into the safe hands of Morgan and it was 49-2. That became 59-3 when Brown, seven fours in his 36, was deceived by Khan and edged a catch to Rayner at slip. Croft made three when he was surprised to see the umpire's finger raised when Simpson appealed for a catch behind the wicket off Khan so he had to depart at 63-4. Middlesex were fighting back as Morgan marshalled his troops extremely effectively.
There was a slight hiatus for the visitors while Paul Horton and Faulkner put on 29 before the former held his bat out to dry and was comfortably taken at slip by Rayner off Franklin for 18. Davies had added the one run to take the total to 93 when the persevering Roland-Jones returned and had him caught behind by Simpson. Middlesex were suddenly feeling in the ascendancy. But Faulkner and Clark soon put a dent in their hopes but not without one heart-stopping moment.
With the total on 100, Clark at the non-striker's end called for a single when the ball went backward of square, Faulkner failed to acknowledge his call and suddenly both batsmen were at one end. As the batsmen were deciding what to do the fielder at backward short leg did not gather the ball cleanly but when he did he threw it to the wicketkeeper. But Clark was in his crease and Faulkner was just setting off for the run; it looked odds on for a run out. However, almost inexplicably it took an eternity for the ball to be thrown to the other end with Faulkner desperately trying to make his ground. That he did so was almost a miracle as the Middlesex bowler fumbled with the ball giving Faulkner just time to ground his bat. It was to prove the turning point of the game.
The pair then continued more serenely and by the time they were parted the game was almost in the bag. They had taken the total to 140 when Faulkner played unnecessarily at a wide ball from Khan and he was gone for a very good 35. And at 147 Clark, 29, was caught by Franklin off Harris and Middlesex just glimpsed a glimmer of hope with only two wickets to fall and 15 runs still required.
But it was to be a false dawn for Parry, nine not out, and Bailey, five not out, saw Lancashire home with no further alarms at 162-8 with two overs unused. Khan was Middlesex's most successful bowler with a fine 3-32 from his 10 rapid overs and there were two wickets each for Harris and Franklin, for 26 and 31 runs respectively, while Roland-Jones returned 1-47. Rayner went wicketless, 0-20 from seven overs, but his nagging short of a length off-spin had contributed to Lancashire's late discomfort.
It was very definitely a day for the bowlers but while the crowd went home happy with the result one of the umpires was spotted demonstrating to ground staff that the track had produced uneven bounce, much to the consternation of the batsmen.
And, although a stiff breeze had got up, the sun was still shining as the crowd made their way out of the ground.
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