It seemed like a good day for Middlesex when we bowled Durham out for 147, at which point I was hopeful we were well-set to achieve a first innings lead and also to record some batting points and put ourselves in a strong position in the match. However, the match situation at the end of day one puts those hopes virtually out of the window, as we will end up incurring a first innings deficit unless our tailenders can score 60 more runs. Knowing our tail, I wouldn’t usually rule out the possibility of them adding some runs tomorrow, although the way today went makes me pessimistic about the chances of our tail finding batting enjoyable, especially as Durham slipped from 147-7 to 147 all out.
Durham clearly wanted to bat first, and we clearly wanted to bowl first. Our decision to bowl after winning the toss means that we have to accept that we will be set to bat last. Hopefully we won’t find it difficult to chase whatever Durham set us. We will have to perform well tomorrow to keep our target down. The way the match is going, our run chase could start at some point tomorrow. In fact, if it doesn’t start tomorrow, then I fear that Durham would have given themselves lots of runs to defend.
I was surprised to see our line-up bereft of Toby Roland-Jones and of any specialist spinner. However, a look at the scorecard of Durham's first innings suggests that our team selection was justified. As we did not bowl any spin today, as it great to read that our over rate is not - unlike the title of this thread - in the red. As I wrote on the thread about our signing of Miguel Cummins, I think that part of the reason why we signed Cummins was to enable us to rotate our fast bowlers across our final three matches of the season, so I am fairly sure that TRJ will see further action in our final two matches, while it would be a surprise if Tom Helm doesn’t do so too, otherwise Helm would have to wait until next season to wear his cap in a match. Nathan Sowter’s participation in our final two matches will probably depend on how we expect the pitches to play.
Steven Finn has spoken to our YouTube page about today. He says that TRJ was due to play ahead of him, but had to pull out about five minutes before the toss due to a tight calf. Finn sounds hopeful that our tail can get us close to or past Durham’s score, and he cites the fact our batting took place under floodlights.