Best CB40 score

By Lower Mound
August 30 2011

Lower Mound reports from Lord's as we finish our CB40 campain with a win over group winners Sussex. Read about some fine batting from our young guns and hear news about one of our passionate followers

We arrived in what was to be my final visit to Lord’s about 20 minutes prior to the start of play and sat in our normal seats in the Lower Mound stand. All the talk in the build-up to the match was that were Middlesex to bat first, we would have to win by about 210 runs in order to overtake Sussex’s net run rate (prior to the match, we were on 0.19 and Sussex were on 1.21) and qualify for the semi-finals, while if Sussex were to bat first, we would have to reach our target inside about four over’s to qualify. Considering the scenario in which we would bat first was more realistic, it was disappointing to learn upon arrival that Sussex had elected to bat upon winning the toss.

From the XI which appeared on the scorecard, Dial M, CC and Crooky were rested for more important matters in the County Championship match starting tomorrow v Leicestershire. In came Anthony Ireland, Robbie Williams and Tom Smith as replacements. It was pleasing to see Ireland and Williams included, as Ireland would be keen to impress in pursuit of more first-team cricket for us in 2012, while Williams deserved a chance to impress in what is the final year of his present contract.

Ed Joyce and Chris Nash opened the batting and got Sussex Sharks off to a flying start, and Nash in particular scored heavily against the bowling of Ireland, who went for 23 runs in the two overs he bowled. In the seventh over, the 50 was brought up when Nash hit a boundary towards the Grand stand, and our chances of being set a target we could achieve inside four overs was fading! At the end of the mandatory Powerplay, they were 58-0, which became 84-0 at the end of the bowling Powerplay. JD came on at this point and was promptly dispatched in his first over to the Tavern stand then the Mound stand.

With the score on 90, Sussex lost their first wicket as Nash was out for 57 when he played on off the bowling of JD. Lou Vincent came to the wicket and he and Joyce brought up the 100 in the 17th over, at which point you would have expected them  to go on to achieve a score of 250-300, but from my experience of watching one-day cricket, the introduction of spinners tends to bring the run rate down, as indeed happened today. It was pleasing to see that one of those spinners was Paul Stirling, as many feel he doesn’t bowl enough when he plays for us, and he showed what talent he has with the ball when he recorded figures of 8-0-46-2 for Ireland v England last Thursday, dismissing Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes, both caught and bowled.

Back at Lord’s, the second batsman to go was Stirlo’s Ireland team-mate Joyce, who attempted to increase the run rate, but could only sky the ball to Sam Robson - who fielded well all match - in front of the Edrich stand off Dawid Malan for 54. The pick of the Middlesex bowlers, Tom Smith, bowled Murray Goodwin with the score on 178, and six runs later Vincent fell for 42 in similar circumstances to how Joyce had fallen, with Williams catching him, albeit in front of the Pavilion, off JD. The final wicket to fall was when Joe Gatting, nephew of Mike, was caught by Scott Newman off Toby Roland-Jones for 26 with the score on 238. That left one more ball to face, in which Mike Yardy ran a single to set us a target of 240 at exactly six an over. The Seaford Plumber ended with figures of 8-0-22-1 and an economy of 2.75, while JD ended on 2-41 and Rojo’s figures after five overs were 0-19, although his final figures were ruined by having to return at the death. Chris Rogers’ use of seven bowlers sadly meant that there was no opportunity for Ireland to add to the two overs he bowled at the start of the innings, although hopefully 2012 will go better for him.

Robbo and AC opened the batting for Middlesex, and in my opinion it was the perfect combination, as you need to have one player who can hit out and one player who can get the ones and twos. Unfortunately, we were 'only' 33-0 after four overs, and it became clear that it would be Sussex and not us who would be travelling to The Oval for Sunday’s semi-final. At the end of the mandatory Powerplay, we were 43-0, Robbo on 16 and AC on 26. We were 15 behind Sussex’s score at this stage, but we had 10 wickets left, which was important in my opinion. Monty Panesar came on at the Pavilion end in the 11th over, and AC, growing in confidence, reverse swept Monty to the Grand stand, taking 10 of his first over. In the next over, which Wayne Parnell bowled from the Nursery end, Robbo played a memorable shot, lifting his bat over his head, and the ball went sailing towards the Pavilion for four.

With the spinners on, our run rate increased, which was in contrast to the effect our spinners had had. Off the first ball of Monty’s second over, AC hit him into the Tavern stand for six to make it 76-0 after 13 overs, and around this time, Robbo’s confidence and scoring rate started to grow. AC’s fifty, made off 48 balls, came up in the 14th over, as Parnell’s over went for 11. Nash was then introduced, and immediately AC smashed him straight to the Warner stand for four. The 100 came up after 16 overs, 41 of which came from Robbo and 58 from AC. Four overs later, Robbo brought up his fifty off the 53rd ball he faced with a single off Monty, and we reached the halfway stage on 121-0, just over halfway towards 240, although AC was still ahead of Robbo on 69. Yardy introduced himself from the Pavilion end, with the over yielding five singles.

With the score on 153, Parnell, bowling from the Nursery end had Malan caught behind by Ben Brown for a well-made 84 made off 84 balls with 10 fours and one six, taking his total runs in this competition to 510 and bringing Paul Stirling to the wicket. Often when two players make a big partnership, the departure of one of the batsmen is followed by the departure of the other batsman, and sadly, four runs  and seven balls after the fall of AC, Robbo departed for a career best 65 off 71 with five fours when Yardy bowled him in deteriorating light, and this buoyed the visiting support, although we were nonetheless in a great position, needing another 83 off 82 with eight wickets remaining. Buck now came in.

After 30 overs, we were 183-2, Buck on 9 and Stirlo on 18. The 200 came up when Stirlo pulled a six into the Mound stand in the 33rd over, and a couple of balls later Buck hit a six himself as Parnell’s over yielded 19 runs, and our rate required was now down to 3.85. At this stage, a lot of the Sussex supporters who had previously been vocal decided to make an exit back to the South coast. With the score on 229, Buck was the last batsman out when Nash dismissed him lbw for 37. Eight balls later, it was all over, as Stirlo scored 10 of the required 11 runs to finish on 46 not out off 29 and earn Middlesex a seven wicket win with 17 balls to spare, although sadly 33 overs too late to qualify. A tremendous batting performance, beginning with a partnership of 153 in 25.1 overs between Robbo and AC, and continued when Stirlo and Buck put on 72 in 9.3 overs meant that Middlesex, for the first time since 2003, beat Sussex in a List A match at Lord’s. We finished second in Group A, level on points with Sussex.

In conclusion, I visited Janet last week, and although she was very tired when I saw her, she said was hoping to see Middlesex today, and it was rumoured that she indeed came along. If anyone saw her, I would be very interested to know if she enjoyed her visit back to Lord’s.