After incessantly studying the weather forecast for London on Saturday evening, I decided that I would attend today’s game, despite the fact it was likely to be a complete washout. Upon leaving the house however, I was greeted with a vigorous rain shower. I was nonetheless undeterred as the rain shower turned to a hail storm as I drove to the station to catch the train to London.  

Thankfully my trust in the Met Office was well founded as play was only delayed by 15 minutes due to the rain and with Shaggy winning the toss (again!) Middlesex elected to bat. I was a little surprised to see Billy opening with Yozzer, as I thought this side is short of a bowler and that Billy would be sacrificed to accommodate one. With Somerset possessing one of the most ominous bating line ups in County Cricket, I was sceptical that Dexter and Malan would suffice as fifth bowlers. 

Nonetheless Godleman got off the mark with a beautifully timed cover drive for four off Trego and in the same over survived a huge appeal for lbw, which I thought looked plumb. Billy was not to survive much longer though as he was run out by a direct throw by Phillips attempting a second run down to fine leg.  

This brought Ace to the crease who looked very uneasy as he was repeatedly beaten outside off stump first by Trego (who was bowling a good tight line outside off stump and getting some away movement) and then by Willoughby.  

Meanwhile Yozzer was also struggling. With Somerset bowling straight and giving Hughes no room to back away and with Langer having set a packed off side field with a short extra cover, two points and a third man; Yozzer had crawled to 8 off 23 balls which included several streaky edges down to third man.  

Shah soon unleashed his shackles as he cracked Willoughby for two pulled fours in front of square and Hughes soon followed suit as he smashed Trego over mid on for a huge six which went seven to eight rows back, which lost the ball. Much to the crowds’ amusement as soon as the umpire had got a new ball and was handing it to Trego, someone recovered the original and threw it back.  

This signalled the period of dominance for Shah and Hughes as both played serenely, (aside from Shah’s calling as he continually wanted suicidal singles) as they carved the Somerset bowlers for boundaries at will (Willoughby’s final over went for 17 runs). They brought up the Middlesex fifty in the eleventh over and the hundred soon followed in the eighteenth over. In the twenty-first over both reached their half centuries Hughes’ coming off 50 balls with 5 fours and a six and Shah’s off 61 balls with 6 fours and a six.  

The introduction of Thomas and Phillips did nothing to cease the rapid scoring rate as both were repeatedly hit to the boundary and the Middlesex 150 came up in the twenty-seventh over. The batting power play was taken in the 29^th over and Langer brought back Trego for damage limitation (so I thought), however Trego’s next two overs would yield the figures of 2-0-9-3.  
 

The first ball of the powerplay Shah cover drove for six. The next ball he tried to repeat the shot but didn’t connect and easily found Phillips at cover. This brought an end to the 151 run partnership with Hughes; Shah went for an exhilarating 82 with Middlesex now 166-2. I am quite confident that Ace didn’t appreciate the chant of “There’s only one Ravi Bopara” from the Somerset fans, but I can assure Owais that the members sat around me who had previously been bemoaning his trip to the IPL had suspiciously gone quiet.  

Trego second over of the powerplay brought a further two wickets. Morgan who had raced to 4 of 5 balls tried to execute what is now his trademark reverse flick over fine leg. However he completely missed the shot and was plumb lbw right in front of the wicket. I was particularly angry at Eoin for this dismissal as it was completely unnecessary. The run rate was already 5.7 and with Hughes going well at the other end (during a powerplay) there was no need to play such an expansive shot so early. In addition to this being our in form batsman, I would like to have had Morgan in and set at the beginning of the 40^th over for the final onslaught.  

Malan was then bowled through the gate by Trego for a second ball duck, which ended Middlesex’s chance to capitalise on the powerplay as we were now 178-4 having been 160-1 at the beginning of the powerplay. 

Dexter joined Yozzer at the crease and together they brought up the Middlesex 200 in the thirty fifth over. Then in the thirty eighth over Yozzer achieved his fourth century of the season, which came of 94 balls with 12 fours and a six.  

This sparked a heated debate amongst my fellow members which raged well into to the interval. The issues raised in order of importance were:  

Is Philip Hughes Middlesex’s greatest overseas batsman, nay overseas player?

Is he the most talented 20 year old you have ever seen? 

How do England dismiss him?  

Whilst this debate continued Dexter and Hughes busily accumulated 89 runs for the fifth wicket, with Hughes slapping another huge six into the Mound Stand, before he was caught by Suppiah off Phillips trying to force the pace for 119 off 112 balls. With Yozzer now gone Dexter took up the mantle and proceeded to smash the ball all over the ground with some improvised strokes and some cultivated slogging. Berg went for 11, stumped by Kieswetter, falling over as he attempted to flick the ball over Kieswetter .  

This brought Shaggy to the crease and he just continued where he left off at the Grange. His innings lasted only 12 balls and 9 minutes but in that time he hit 3 fours and 2 big sixes off Trego. He was caught on the boundary by De Bruyn for 29, whilst trying to launch Thomas for six. Before he departed he saw Middlesex through to three hundred which came up in the 47^th over and Dexter to his fifty which came off 41 balls with 8 fours.  

Dexter batted excellently( and in my opinion is more suited to finishing at six rather than batting at three or four) and finished on 65 not out off 54 balls as Middlesex finished on 341-7 which is their highest List A score, beating the 337-5 made against Somerset at Southgate in 2003.  

So going into the interval I was extremely pleased with our effort and even with Somerset’s batting line up and our lack of a specialist fifth bowler I was confident we would be able to defend 341. When I asked a visiting Somerset member how he viewed   Somerset’s chances he was very optimistic and thought that if Trescothick and Kieswetter got off to a strong start, Somerset had every chance. This reminded me of a Pro 40 game I watched on Sky last year when the pair put on 302 for the 2^nd wicket and recorded scores of 184 and 121 respectively. I dismissed that as unlikely, and convinced myself that we would be able to defend 341.  

Due to rain the start of Somerset’s innings was delayed and their target was reduced to 333 off 48 overs. Unfortunately my doubts were realised as Trescothick and Kieswetter got off to a flyer, with Trescothick brutally hitting anything wayward on the offside and Kieswetter taking sixteen runs from a Finn over. Berg was introduced in only the sixth over as Finn had been particularly expensive, as Somerset reached their fifty.  

The rapid first wicket partnership of 78 was broken when Kieswetter was bowled by Berg as he attempted to pull Berg for another boundary after already hitting 7 fours and a six in his 31 ball 40.  

Ben Phillips came in at three as a pinch hitter and kept up the frenetic run rate of eight an over, as Somerset posted their hundred in the eleventh over. Phillips had hit five unsightly boundaries and attempting a pull he hit Finn miles into the air. It looked like the steepler would land half way between fine leg and Scotty. However Scotty ran thirty yards then leaped and dived full-length to take a fantastic catch as Phillips was dismissed for 24.  

James Hildreth who has been much talked about and tipped for England by our friends on Grockles, failed to impress as he hit a drive straight to Malan at cover to give Finn another wicket to leave Somerset on 114-3 in the fifteenth over. 

Meanwhile at the other end Trescothick continued on his merry way as he continued to punish all the Middlesex bowlers and he reached his fifty off forty two balls, which included seven fours. However he was soon dismissed for a fifty two ball 64 as he chipped a low return catch back to Udal, which signalled wild celebrations by the Middlesex side. The game now looked like Middlesex’s to lose as Somerset were now 148-4 in the 21^st over, with two new batsmen in De Bruyn and Langer at the crease.  

These two calmly accumulated runs with little incident and no chances. The bowling however was far from incident as Malan’s first ball to Langer was a beamer and Shaggy had his little finger of his bowling hand put back into place after dislocating it. The rain which had threatened all day finally came down when Somerset were 209-4 off 31.4 overs. This led to a heartily cheer from the Middlesex faithful as at the time Somerset were 3 runs behind the Duckworth Lewis par score of 212.  As a result most of the ground emptied believing that there was going to be no further play and that Middlesex had done enough to win.  

However the rain subsided and with the Lords outfield drying so well only 7 overs were lost and Somerset were set a revised target of 290 runs in 41 overs; thus needing 89 runs from 9.2 overs. At this stage I was still confident of a Middlesex win. De Bruyn and Langer had other ideas, as both players cut loose and played superbly well. With Somerset taking their four over batting power play both batsmen unleashed all their attacking shots and experience of a run chase. Both soon reached their fifties. Langer reaching his fifty off 52 balls with 6 fours and de Bruyn reaching his fifty off 54 balls with 3 fours and a six.  

De Bryun hit Finn for a four and a six off successive deliveries before he was caught at mid-wicket by Shah for 70 off 61 balls and Langer took thirteen runs off Udal’s eighth over. I left the ground completely despondent and deeply disappointed with Somerset needing 13 to win after Shah needlessly conceded four overthrows. The ball had gone straight to Shah and there was a possibility of a run out. However instead of delivering the required direct throw to Scott, Shah wildly hurled the ball which ended up going to the boundary.   

On my way through the long room I saw Gus who looked just as disappointed and despondent as I did. In the end Somerset won by 5 wickets with eleven balls to spare and Langer won the man of the match award for his excellent knock of 78 not out.  

All in all a great match to watch but as a Middlesex supporter, a very disappointing one to lose especially as we made 341. The bowling this year looks particularly toothless (at least until the TSO arrives) and none of the bowlers looked like making a breakthrough at any stage. Maybe overcritical as Somerset did bat brilliantly.  

In any case this result does make the game against Warwickshire tomorrow look like a dead rubber. Let’s just hope that Scotland can achieve the improbable and beat Kent.  

( Editors note. Clutching at straws there Mark)

( Editors further note always knew Scotland could do it. Let's  hope Kent can beat Warks or am I clutching at straws? )