On a fine day at the outground, the tykes won the toss and invited Middlesex to have the first use of the wicket. Our experience of the Southgate pitches should have aided us in getting a good start, but this wicket seemed to have that bit extra in it, resulting in some early breakthroughs for the Phoenix. First to go was Paul Weekes, a scary sight as it bought the unmistakable Mel Betts to the middle. Unless you are the p/a that is, who had the crowd convinced that not only had Owais Shah changed his skin colour to white overnight, but had also walked in at number 3. Betts did have his moment of glory, hitting an imperious boundary, but that was about all he could manage as he made way for the real Owais Shah (a certain Eminem song springs to mind- Would the real Owais Shah please stand up). Shah and Hutton shared in a stand of 71, which was seen to be the initial building of the innings. Shah then found support from Dalrymple, who looked on top form as his smashed two sixes, although one was mighty close to being caught just inside the square leg ropes.

Dalrymple may have been dismissed, but Shah just went on and on and this time found the support of David Nash, who was in a rare one-day appearance. Nash made a solid 35 and helped Shah progress towards his record equaling 6th league century for the ‘sex. He now only needs to hit another ton to overtake the record he currently shares with Mike Gatting. Once the ton was up, which Shah completed with his second six, he needed just 8 balls to add a further 25, including three sixes off the last three balls. Tim Bresnan was the unlucky bowler in this case- conceding 25 from the final over after having figures of 8-4-15-0 from his initial spell with the new ball.

Middlesex’s rate of acceleration, which saw over 130 runs in the final 16 overs, had certainly shocked the tykes and this gave the ‘sex not only a sporting edge, but a mental one too. The edge was even more visible when Simon Cook dismissed dangerman Ian Harvey and his opening partner Matthew Wood in the first 10 overs. Yorkshire were always at a better run rate than we had been for most of our innings, but wickets fell at crucial moments far to often and this caused the most hindrance in their chase.

It was left to Anthony McGrath (96 off 90 balls) to hit 24 off the final over- a feat that we all knew was highly possible given Shah’s slogging earlier in the day. A four off the first ball signaled his intentions, as did turning down a single of the second ball. However, turning down a single off the third ball meant that 20 were required off just 3 balls and this was too tall an order. McGrath’s lone efforts had all been in vain and the ‘sex secured the win that kept them six points clear of Worcester at the top of the table.

Please click here for a scorecard for this match

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