Match Centre

MATCH REPORT | LEICESTERSHIRE V MIDDLESEX

Match report provided by the ECB Reporters Network.

DAY FOUR

Having had Leicestershire on the ropes at 13 for four at Thursday’s close, Middlesex took rather longer than anticipated to finish the job, but duly completed an 80-run victory to set up an unexpectedly exciting finale to the Division Two campaign in the LV= Insurance County Championship, with still three contenders for the two promotion places.

Toby Roland-Jones finished with four for 34 and seven wickets in the match as Leicestershire were bowled out for 194, Colin Ackermann mounting the most significant show of resistance, batting almost four hours for his 80.

Tailenders Chris Wright and Michael Finan had some fun at the end, thrashing 61 runs in just over 11 overs for the final wicket.

Nottinghamshire had looked to have the Division Two title in the bag after seven wins, but after their humbling defeat by Worcestershire at New Road earlier this week, Middlesex’s victory makes a substantial hole in their cushion at the top of the table.

It means the leaders will begin the last round of fixtures on Monday with their advantage cut to just nine points, with Middlesex in second place, although themselves looking nervously over their shoulders at Glamorgan, whose win against Derbyshire in Cardiff puts them only nine points further back in third spot.

Nottinghamshire’s final opponents are Durham at Trent Bridge, while Middlesex themselves travel to Worcester. Glamorgan take on Sussex at Hove.

Leicestershire might have been in further disarray on the third evening had bad light not allowed them to return to the haven of the dressing room earlier than scheduled.

They lasted just over half an hour on the final morning before losing their fifth wicket, Harry Swindells walking even before the umpire’s finger was raised after a swinging delivery from Roland-Jones hit him squarely in front.

Tom Scriven, the former England Under-19s all-rounder, played nicely alongside Ackermann as the pair added 34 for the sixth wicket, but the introduction of Luke Hollman’s leg spin brought an immediate dividend, as it had twice previously in the match.

Scriven was his victim this time, popping up a bat-pad catch to short leg as he sought to flick one away. When Barnes fell without scoring, beaten for pace when lbw to Ethan Bamber, Leicestershire were 70 for seven.

Yet with the obdurate Callum Parkinson now at the other end, Middlesex were frustrated for more than an hour and a half before they could claim the eighth wicket, Leicestershire adding 65 runs in the process, with Ackermann surviving a chance to wicketkeeper John Simpson on 51.

The breakthrough came via an unexpected route. Sam Robson succeeded where Hollman had been unable to make further inroads, the off-spinner employing a leg break to have Ackermann leg before on the sweep.

One wicket brought another as Parkinson fell in the next over, Tim Murtagh pushing one through to hit the front pad in line.

Yet Middlesex were made to wait for a little longer before their celebrations could begin, Wright and Finan taking the opportunity to swing the bat under no pressure, the former finishing 36 not out after Finan holed out to deep midwicket off Robson to end the contest at 3.15pm.

Leicestershire, deeply rooted at the bottom of the table, have one more chance - away to Derbyshire - to avoid another full season without a Championship win, a fate that befell them three times in the last decade.

Image provided by John Mallett

DAY THREE

Middlesex have put themselves within sight of a victory that will put them squarely in contention for the Division Two title after Leicestershire’s fragile batting undid their good work with the ball on day three of their LV= Insurance County Championship match.

Skipper Callum Parkinson took four for 69 and young leg spinner Rehan Ahmed a career-best three for 50 as Middlesex collapsed from 209 for three to 271 all out in their second innings, losing their last seven wickets for 62 after Mark Stoneman (81) and Max Holden (91) had put on 165 for the fourth wicket.

It left Leicestershire with a fourth-innings target of 275 to record their first win of the season. Instead they are in deep trouble at 13 for four going into the final day.

After leaders Nottinghamshire’s heavy defeat at Worcester, a win here would take Middlesex into the final round of matches next week in second place just nine points behind.

Middlesex face Worcestershire at New Road, with Nottinghamshire at home to Durham.

Leicestershire had achieved their first objective for the day by finishing just three behind on first innings after Ed Barnes and Chris Wright added 21 runs to their overnight total.

Toby Roland-Jones prised out the last wicket when Barnes top-edged a pull to be caught behind for a best-of-season 46, the Middlesex seamer improving his figures to four for 66 and 59 first-class wickets for the season. Another five will match his career-best tally of 64 in 2012.

Leicestershire were in the ascendancy as Middlesex’s nascent second innings lost three wickets in the first 10 overs, mainly as a consequence of Parkinson’s bold decision to give his own left-arm spin a try with the new ball just five overs old.

By then, Middlesex had already lost Sam Robson to a fine catch at second slip by Colin Ackermann off Michael Finan. Parkinson struck with his seventh ball as Steven Eskinazi’s paddle-sweep looped to short leg.

When he made one bounce and turn to have a groping Pieter Malan caught at slip in his next over, Middlesex were 44 for three, just 47 runs in front.

But as Stoneman and Holden set their minds to scoring quickly in the hope of taking the game away from their opponents, Leicestershire’s front-line seamers found it hard to apply the brake. By lunch, Middlesex were 108 for three, 111 in front.

The fourth-wicket pair added 50 in 10 overs and maintained that rate of scoring, Holden reaching his personal half-century off 48 balls, Stoneman his off 74.

Parkinson almost had Stoneman on 51 with a difficult chance to short leg at 139 for three, but the pitch was becoming increasingly unresponsive and Middlesex were now in control of their destiny.

By tea, their lead had been extended to 247, although the session had also seen Leicestershire fight back with three wickets.

Holden, often easy on the eye as he gathered 13 boundaries, departed on 91 after uncharacteristically poking at a wide ball from Tom Scriven outside off stump, caught behind by a diving Harry Swindells.

Stoneman went to sweep Louis Kimber, thus far an occasional off-spinner, but missed and was bowled behind his legs for 81. When Ryan Giggins was bowled by Rehan Ahmed, failing to pick the youngster’s googly, Leicestershire felt they were back in the game, in theory at least.

Indeed, the momentum stayed with them after tea as Middlesex’s collapse accelerated, their last four wickets tumbling for nine runs as John Simpson, sweeping, was bowled by one from Parkinson that turned back a long way and Luke Hollman heaved a horribly mistimed pull straight to mid-on.

Parkinson picked up his fourth wicket when another super delivery, perhaps his best of the day, beat Ethan Bamber’s push forward to clip off stump, before a Roland-Jones miscue to long-on gave Ahmed his third.

It left Leicestershire to chase 275 to win, not the most forbidding target but a formidable one for a team of their thin resources.

If they could have found a way through the last 16 overs of the day without mishap, they might have given themselves a chance.

Instead, Tim Murtagh dismissed Sam Evans leg before with his second ball, Sol Budinger, off the mark with a thick outside edge for four, was bowled off an inside edge by Roland-Jones, who then saw off Kimber, bowled by a full delivery and Ahmed, dragging on one to his leg stump, leaving them 13 for four inside the first six.

DAY TWO

Leicestershire recovered from 66 for five to 273 for nine in reply to Middlesex’s 297 on day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship match on a day when finishing places in Division Two looked a little less clear cut than they had before the current, penultimate round of matches began.

With Nottinghamshire 27 points clear before play began on Tuesday, Middlesex were more concerned with winning the race for the second promotion spot but the Trent Bridge side’s troubles at New Road may yet bring the title back into play if Tim Murtagh’s team can conjure a win here.

Yet that might be less straightforward than it looked when they had winless Leicestershire seemingly on the ropes at lunch only for Harry Swindells (67) and Tom Scriven (65) to rescue the bottom-of-the-table team with a stand of 125 for the sixth wicket before a gutsy unbeaten 31 from Ed Barnes helped close the deficit to 24 runs.

The morning was dismal for Leicestershire, although it had started with a joyful moment after Michael Finan, their recently acquired new team-mate, took two wickets in his first over to record his maiden five-wicket haul in only his third first-class match.

In claiming figures of five for 58, the 26-year-old left-arm quick finished off the Middlesex tail as the promotion-chasers were bowled out for three runs short of what might be an important third batting point.

Leicestershire raised a few eyebrows when they handed Finan a two-year contract before seeing him play in a senior match but he is already developing stamina and control to go with his pace and looked a threat in each of his 18 overs here. He led his team-mates off the field, wearing a broad smile as he held the ball aloft.

By lunch, though, the atmosphere in the home dressing room would have been markedly different. The Middlesex total, built around John Simpson’s patient 92 on day one, was already looking formidable as Leicestershire slumped to five down.

With Hassan Azad and Rishi Patel left out for lack of form and leading scorer Wiaan Mulder back in South Africa, the 18-year-old rookie all-rounder Rehan Ahmed was required to bat at five. It looked a pretty thin line-up.

In the event, Ahmed made 26 off 56 balls before an injudicious swipe saw him bowled by fellow leg-spinner Luke Hollman’s somewhat unthreatening opening delivery, yet he’d done better than the four before him.

Sol Budinger went in the second over for seven, cutting Toby Roland-Jones for three and then four before edging to second slip to a visible send-off from the Middlesex seamer. Louis Kimber was bowled off an inside edge by a swinging ball from the ageless Murtagh.

Sam Evans was bowled by a ball from Ethan Bamber that squared him up and nipped away to clip off stump. A full, straight one from Roland-Jones was too good for Colin Ackermann, who was leg before.

Yet by tea Leicestershire were in a much healthier position, having negotiated a 38-over middle session without losing another wicket as Scriven - in only his fourth first-class match - and Swindells guided them to 184 for five, with the threat of a follow-on avoided.

The sixth-wicket pair were impressively disciplined and narrow escapes were kept to a minimum. Scriven passed fifty for the first time in a first-class match for Leicestershire, reaching the milestone from 97 balls with a dab into the off side for one that also took the partnership to three figures. Swindells’s half-century came off 133 balls just before tea.

Scriven fell seven balls into the final session for 65 as Murtagh found the edge. But Barnes helped add another 39 before Swindells was undone when Hollman made one rear up somehow and take the glove or shoulder of the bat to loop to second slip, where Steve Eskinazi plucked it out of the air one-handed.

By the time the new ball was taken, Finan had come and gone, caught at third slip off Roland-Jones, but skipper Callum Parkinson helped Barnes add another 28 for the ninth wicket before the latter was lbw to Bamber.

DAY ONE

Half-centuries from John Simpson, Steve Eskinazi and Ryan Higgins combined to give Middlesex what they will regard as a satisfactory opening day’s work position as they seek to clinch promotion from Division Two of the LV= Insurance County Championship with two matches left.

Middlesex, who started the penultimate round on 188 points - 27 behind leaders Nottinghamshire but 12 ahead of third-placed Glamorgan, finished the day on 293 for eight with Simpson falling for 92 after Eskinazi had scored 64 and Higgins 53.

Having chosen to put Middlesex in on a pitch that made batting tricky for much of the day, Leicestershire mostly bowled well as Michael Finan finished with three for 54, with Tom Scriven and Callum Parkinson taking two wickets each but paid dearly for some sloppy fielding, dropping Eskinazi on 11 and Simpson on 29.

Middlesex had been four down for 91 at lunch after Leicestershire enjoyed a good morning with the ball but recovered to 196 for five at tea

Finan, the 26-year-old left-arm seamer plucked out of National Counties cricket, caught the eye again in his third first-class match, beginning the day by removing both Middlesex overs in an impressive opening spell with the new ball.

He dismissed Mark Stoneman with his fifth ball, which straightened enough to have him leg before, and then bowled Sam Robson behind his legs. He would have had a third but wicketkeeper Harry Swindells spilled a chance off the glove offered by Eskinazi.

Scriven, another recent addition to Leicestershire’s bowling resources, had Pieter Malan caught behind two balls after he’d got away with a streaky edge that second slip probably should have claimed. Skipper and left-arm spinner Parkinson, heeding some criticism about delaying his introduction against Durham last week, was on after 75 minutes and struck in the last over before lunch when his decision to install a short leg for Max Holden reaped a dividend as Sol Budinger took an excellent one-handed catch.

Eskinazi completed a 94-ball half-century soon after driving Chris Wright through extra cover for his ninth four. After a watchful start to the session against another testing spell by Finan, a double bowling change allowed Simpson to get into his stride. A couple of boundaries off Scriven were particularly easy on the eye.

Leicestershire were handed a gift when Eskinazi threw away his wicket. Presumably trying to create a different angle, he walked down the pitch almost before Scriven reached the crease and left his stumps completely exposed. It was the cricket equivalent of an open goal and Scriven gratefully converted it.

It ended a 49-run partnership for the fifth wicket but by tea Simpson and Higgins had added another 56, Simpson having been the beneficiary on 29 of another dropped catch, this time put down at mid-wicket off Ed Barnes.

A six down the ground by Simpson off Rehan Ahmed’s leg spin straight after tea was followed by the wicketkeeper-batter’s seventh boundary, eased past extra cover off Scriven, taking him to a 104-ball fifty, his eighth of the season.

The sixth-wicket pair built patiently thereafter against some tidy Leicestershire bowling, but their partnership was broken on 99 when Higgins, having just completed a solid 94-ball half-century with a well-timed clip through mid-wicket for four, took a stride forward to a ball from Parkinson that turned just enough to find the edge, Colin Ackermann holding the chance at slip having dropped the one at mid-wicket.

With that, Parkinson held back on asking for the new ball, Ahmed justifying the decision as Luke Hollman top-edged an attempted sweep straight to backward square, leaving Middlesex 248 for seven.

When the new ball came, Simpson seemed to enjoy the return of pace on to the bat but after moving into the 90s by driving a gift full toss from Finan down the ground for his 10th four he went to sweep the next ball and lived to regret it, sending up a top edge that Budinger safely pouched in the deep.

The day began with both teams forming a guard of honour for umpire Nick Cook, who is standing in his last match on this ground ahead of his retirement at the end of this season at the age of 66. Born in Leicester, Cook took 395 first-class wickets for Leicestershire as a left-arm spinner, as well as 52 in 15 Test matches.