ALL OUT: Ben Brown goes for a fantastic 68. Sussex 245 all out and Middlesex win by 20 runs. Incredible effort from the keeper-batsman
— Sussex CCC (@SussexCCC) August 10, 2015
WICKET - Sussex 245 and Middlesex win by 21 runs. Brown c Franklin (deep square leg) b Murtagh 68. Well played lads #MIDvSUS #TeamMiddlesex
— Middlesex Cricket (@Middlesex_CCC) August 10, 2015
Really, really tense here. Brown playing a blinder, just slog-swept Ravi for four. 28 required, Liddle a bunny and the seamers running out of puff.
One more wicket to get! Magoffin clips straight to deep square leg after Robinson had a few massive hoohaas and was caught at second slip by Rayner, who the ball seems to be magnetically attracted to at the moment. He dropped a very sharp chance off Brown not long ago. Not long now, you’d think.
Weird period here. They went off for bad light when it didn’t look that dark then returned almost immediately. Ollie Rayner’s been having a right barney about not getting a couple of LBW decisions, and Zaidi’s pumped him to the legside boundary a couple of times, but is gone now, caught behind off Simpson. Robinson is swinging from the hip, and Sussex now need just 60. Middlesex need three wickets and it’s really very tense. Brown, on 36, is crucial.
Nash has played brilliantly, but is now out, caught high and sharply at second slip by Ollie Rayner off Roland-Jones, who he’d been milking easily. He’d cut, driven and flicked well, and especially exploited space at third man. I think, that might be the game, with 103 still required. But we’ll see. It’s 163 for six.
Rain gone, covers off, but a 3.10 tea, a 3.30 re-start and 46 overs remaining in the day.
Oh, for Pete’s sake. It’s raining. Middlesex have half the wickets they need, Sussex have just over half the runs they need, and it starts to rain, only very lightly, and we’re off. There are people in the Edrich Stand just sitting happily through it, and only the hover cover, noting more, has come out.
Nash had just reached a quite brilliant 50 with another superb cut, while Brown is looking tidy. TRJ and Murtagh are toiling, Rayner still hasn’t had a bowl and Patel has been hit out of the attack. It’s 142 for five and Sussex need 126. Middlesex need five. We all need it to stop raining, which it pretty much has. Umpires coming back out for another look.
Luke Wright came in and really took the attack to Middlesex, bunting Ravi Patel down the ground for four, then flaying him uppishly through cover. At the other end he hit a booming drive through the covers off Harris, as well as a streaky French cut. Nash has been cutting beautifully and is looking pretty steady.
But Tim Murtagh – who has spent much of his morning yelling his big Lambeth bark from mid-on – returned to the attack and in his first over, Wright edged to second slip, where Rayner took a fine catch. That’s Murtagh’s 500th FC wicket for Middlesex, which is a fine, fine achievement. His team-mates have gone made for it.
In comes Ben Brown, and he swats Patel to the midwicket fence, following Nash, who played the same shot twice in the over before. Might be time for a bit of Rayner I reckon. This is beautifully poised as it remains just about dry: Middlesex are halfway there, Sussex aren’t quite. It’s 122 for five.
Didn’t take long after lunch for the first wicket to fall – 13 balls to be exact. Ravi Patel came on from Pavilion End – as I’ve been imploring Franklin to do – and bowled a tidy first over, as did Harris from the Nursery, with a decent LBW appeal against each batsman. First ball of Patel’s next over, Yardy half-pushed forward, missed and lost his off-bail as the ball ran down to the boundary at fine-leg. Simpson wheeled away in delight and the umpires looked confused (had Simpson knocked the bail off himself – no, because the bail had gone backwards…) and off Yardy trudged. Luke Wright in and needing to knuckle down. Harris looks like taking a wicket every ball. It’s 71 for four.
That’s lunch and no more wickets fell after Harris’s wonderful burst. He’s continued to bowl brilliantly, and indeed Nash twice edged him through the cordon in the over before the break. I’m very confused as to why the spinners haven’t bowled, as Nash and Yardy’s limpet impression has been helped by some friendly stuff from Murtagh. Both sides will be concerned – Sussex because wickets look likely, and Middlesex will because there’s some rain expected in an hour and a half.
It’s 68 for three, and Sussex need another 198. Fun afternoon ahead.
James Harris is on one of his rolls. Men of Sussex, beware. So he got Wells with his first ball, then in his second over he’s bagged Joyce LBW (pitched outside?) and got Machan to nick to first slip. I thought it would be the spinners doing the damage but we haven’t seen them yet and Harris has looked excellent. He’s on at the Nursery End for the first time in the match, many of the wisest local sages think he sages think he should always bowl down this end…
Nash and Yardy at the crease, Wright in next. It’s 45 for three, and Sussex just lost 3-8. They need 221 more to win.
Some highlights from yesterday’s play:
And as soon as I announce Harris is coming on, he gets a wicket first ball, with Wells playing an injudicious swipe - think he was done for a bit of pace, to be honest - and getting an edge through to keeps. Not very clever batting. 36 for one.
Sussex are cruising at the moment, and for mine, James Franklin needs to turn to spin ASAP. Joyce has had no trouble negotiating Murtagh, pulling and flicking and all sorts of other pretty shots. Murtagh’s first over was a good’un, twice beating Wells’ bat and twice squaring him up, leading to a pair of edges through the cordon for four. Harris has replaced TRJ – who also didn’t look great, but spin, surely, is what the doctor ordered. It’s 36 for none and Sussex need another 230. Cracking game, this.
Some lunchtime reading from Gary Naylor:
Sussex have done their first bit, and Middlesex are 331 all out, with Malan 120 not out. Murtagh chipped a drive to mid-on, where Liddle took a fine catch diving to his left, then Ravi Patel nicked off to slip where Yardy took a good catch. Magoffin took both those wickets and ends with five for 73, which is no less than he deserves. Quite exceptional line, length and all the other Magoffinisms. Ollie Robinson started the day bowling his offies and then bowled an over of seam up. I think I love him.
So Sussex need 266 to win, which doesn’t sound that much, but I’m sticking by my guns. This should be at least 60 too many, and some up in the press box actually think – with cloud about – Middlesex have done themselves a favour here. Dawid Malan – who it’s fair to say has the measure of this track – spoke last night of the extravagant turn in the pitch, but said the variable bounce of the first two days was easing. Basically what he was saying is it’s all on Ravi and Rayner, and I reckon if Sussex hunt this down, those two will have a fair bit of answering to do. With these overhead conditions now though, Murtagh, Harris and TRJ have a chance to make an impression. Anyway, we’ll see, will be fun either way.
Over at Colchester, gutted to see Tom Westley out without adding to his score. Good lad and a top player, is Tom. Think I cursed him in my preamble.
So here I am, manning the good ship County Cricket – Live! blog alone, after what sounding like a wondrous Scarborough Festival ended a day early and we bid farewell to Chris Cartwright.
A very fine morning to you from the Lord’s (J.P.Morgan) Media Centre, then. This one remains well poised, but I reckon Dawid Malan has already given Sussex too much to do, but what do I know, eh? If Sussex can dock Middlesex’s tail efficiently, leaving themselves under 280, even on a pitch that’s turning sharply, well, it’s possible, isn’t it? If they were to win, though, the forecasted showers (skies currently cloudy but not too threatening – it’s bowling conditions now) need to not play too much of a part and Ravi Patel and Ollie Rayner would have to really muck up. If Patel bowls anything like he did in the first innings, Middlesex will win. Simples.
Elsewhere, there’s plenty of good cricket to be had. Hampshire, remarkably, need four Warwickshire wickets for an important win in this congested relegation scrap. Just wonderful to see James Vince back in the runs, too. Nottinghamshire can put Worcestershire right back in it by knocking the 75 more they need. But never doubt the Shantry, who is certain to pick up a seven-fer. You heard it hear first.
In Division Two, Derbyshire will fancy their chances of lopping off the rest of Leicestershire’s rather timid batting, while at Colchester, Tom Westley is close to another ton as Essex look to set Surrey a target, probably around 300.
As ever, look forward to hearing from you all BTL. There are plenty of nicely poised games about. Enjoy the cricket.
Morning all,
Today we have Will Macpherson at Middlesex v Sussex. Here are the reports from yesterday:
Middlesex v Sussex
Dawid Malan leads Middlesex into strong position against Sussex
Recent weeks have provided scant evidence that today’s cricketers are capable of playing within themselves. Yet for the second time in this match, Dawid Malan, one of the domestic game’s sweetest strikers, has been risk averse, delicately dabbing and carefully nurdling Middlesex into a position of dominance on a pitch turning and bouncing, often sharply and unpredictably.
Yorkshire v Durham
Yorkshire overwhelm Durham to go 50 points clear
There has been an inexorable quality to Yorkshire’s cricket this summer. For all that they were inconsistent in the opening weeks of the season, their performances still suggested strongly that when they hit their best form, there would be no better four-day side in the land.
Enjoy the cricket
