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MIDDLESEX V DERBYSHIRE | MATCH REPORT

Match report provided by the ECB Reporters Network.

DAY FOUR

An inspired burst from Ethan Bamber tore the heart out of Derbyshire’s rearguard as Middlesex secured a 194-run win on the final day of their Vitality County Championship division two clash at Lord’s.

The Seaxes’ seamer took 3-6 in 10 balls on route to final figures of 3-48 as the visitors slid from 58-1 to 70-5 in pursuit of what would have been a record fourth innings chase for the county.

Brave resistance from Zak Chappell with 50 and Alex Thomson 41 prolonged the game deep into the final session, but Henry Brookes with 3-29 returned to clean up the tail and seal a third win of the season for the hosts which keeps them in second place behind leaders Sussex.

For Mickey Arthur’s side, the morning’s carnage marked a second collapse in 24 hours, having lost six wickets for 22 runs in their first innings on the third morning. Defeat means it’s now 25 games without a red-ball win.

Toby Roland-Jones, architect of the visitors’ first innings capitulation, bowled a probing opening spell, repeatedly passing the outside edge of Luis Reece and David Lloyd’s bats, but without reward.

The hosts did though get an early breakthrough Ryan Higgins finding the leading edge of Reece’s bat, the ball flying to substitute Martin Andersson in the gully.

New batter Brooke Guest edged his first ball just short of Sam Robson at second slip, but thereafter, for a while at least, progress was made without undue alarm.

A debatable umpiring decision changed the course of the morning. Guest was struck on the pad by a ball sliding down leg-side, but Naeem Ashraf raised his finger, signalling the collapse which followed.

Brookes struck in the next over, jagging one back from outside off to pin Lloyd lbw trapped on the crease before Bamber again took centre-stage, producing a beauty which swung into Wayne Madsen and straightened on pitching, beating the outside edge and crashing into off stump.

Bamber wasn’t finished there, striking again in his next over when wicketkeeper Jack Davies, standing up to the stumps held on to an edge to send Aneurin Donald packing for just two.

Lunch provided brief respite before Roland-Jones trapped Anuj Dal with one which kept low from back of a length eight balls after the resumption.

Matt Lamb resisted for a while in a stand of 42 with Thomson before the introduction of leg-spinner Luke Hollman accounted for him caught at square leg on the sweep.

Thomson in company with Chappell continued the defiance, the spinner adding to his excellent game with the ball, though he was dropped by Leus Du Plooy, a tough chance away to his left from the bowling of Nathan Fernandes in the last over before tea.

Helped by that reprieve the pair raised a 50-partnership, chewing up 121 balls in the process.

Chappell’s response to fielders crowding the bat was to drive Hollman straight for four, before pulling Roland-Jones for six on his way to 50 from 89 balls.

Perhaps it was his growing confidence, which was his undoing, as no sooner had he reached the landmark he drove a full ball from Hollman into the hands of Fernandes at cover ending a stand of 71.

Thomson’s two-hour vigil was ended by Brookes, who struck twice in as many overs as Middlesex clinched victory just before the start of the last hour.

DAY THREE

Middlesex captain Toby Roland-Jones tore through Derbyshire’s tail with a five-wicket haul to put his side in control going into the final day of their Vitality County Championship clash with Derbyshire.

Seamer Roland-Jones finished with five for 81 – including four wickets in 19 deliveries – as the visitors, who began day three on 308 for four, were hustled out inside the opening hour at Lord’s for 339.

Having top-scored with 163 in Middlesex’s first innings, Ryan Higgins played a supporting role with the ball, taking three for 60 before helping his side stretch their overall lead to 396 with a total of 302 second time around.

Higgins and Sam Robson both scored 67, with former Derbyshire skipper Leus du Plooy contributing 59 – his second half-century of the match – ensuring the visitors will need to break their record fourth-innings total to secure victory.

Trailing by just 125 with six wickets intact at the start of play, Derbyshire’s prospects of a first-innings lead looked fair – but those swiftly evaporated as their batting was blown away by Roland-Jones and Higgins.

Luis Reece was first to depart for a season’s best 125, caught behind prodding outside off stump at Higgins and, once the new ball had been taken soon afterwards, wickets began to tumble.

Aneurin Donald completed his second successive Championship half-century, advancing to 54 before Roland-Jones had him caught at short cover and the dismissal of Anuj Dal in the next over opened up the visitors’ tail.

Roland-Jones made short work of Derbyshire’s last three, with Zak Chappell leg before not playing a shot and Alex Thomson and Daryn Dupavillon both out to slip catches as the home side secured an advantage of 94.

Chappell immediately responded with the ball, slanting his opening delivery across Mark Stoneman to have the left-hander caught in the slips, but Robson put his first-innings duck firmly behind him with a series of confident strokes on both sides of the wicket.

The opener raced to his half-century before lunch, dominating a partnership of 85 with Max Holden, who was dropped on nought at second slip and took 25 minutes to get off the mark, but settled down to play a gritty knock.

However, Chappell (two for 30) struck again when Robson clipped him into the hands of midwicket and that, along with Thomson’s consistent and prolonged spell of off-spin from the Nursery End, helped Derbyshire to apply the brakes.

With Middlesex restricted to less than two and a half an over during a lacklustre afternoon session, Reece’s medium pace finally prised out Holden, who prodded to a close fielder five shy of his half-century.

Reece (two for 40) also removed Nathan Fernandes, bowled having a swing soon after the tea interval and the home side seemed reluctant to commit to a change of gears as they trudged past 200.

Du Plooy’s innings, which ended when he skied Thomson to deep midwicket, was watchful more than exuberant and, despite taking successive boundaries off the spinner, Higgins also looked unusually subdued.

Despite that, the all-rounder brought up his half-century by hammering Thomson over mid-on for six, just after Dal’s flying catch in the deep to remove Luke Hollman had provided him with a well-deserved second wicket.

Thomson gained his third by having Roland-Jones caught at long off, finishing the day with figures of four for 115 when Henry Brookes holed out in the final over.

DAY TWO

Derbyshire opener Luis Reece posted a maiden Lord’s hundred to lead his side’s steady response with the bat in their Vitality County Championship game against Middlesex.

The 33-year-old left-hander shook off a patchy start, sharing a third-wicket stand of 111 with Wayne Madsen and bringing up his century from 176 balls to reach stumps unbeaten on 123.

The visitors closed at 308 for four, trailing by 125 after Middlesex had totalled 433 in their first innings, with overnight centurion Ryan Higgins last man out for 163.

Higgins, whose partnership of 71 with Ethan Bamber set a county record for the last wicket against Derbyshire, has now overtaken Northamptonshire’s Emilio Gay to become Division Two’s leading run-scorer this season.

Handily-placed on 342 for seven overnight, Middlesex lost captain Toby Roland-Jones for 52 in the third over, driving to mid-on where opposite number David Lloyd sprang forward to take the catch.

With Henry Brookes soon following, trapped leg before by a ball from Zak Chappell that kept low, it looked as though a fourth batting point might elude the home side – but Higgins and Bamber determined otherwise.

Bamber looked accomplished at the crease, compiling an unbeaten 21 as he chopped Daryn Dupavillon to the fence and Higgins raised the tempo, lifting Sam Conners for three leg-side sixes.

A rare untidy shot by Higgins, top-edging Conners over slip for four, took him beyond 150 and it was Reece who eventually wrapped up the innings as Madsen – narrowly avoiding a collision with Conners – gathered Higgins’ slog-sweep in front of the rope.

That left Derbyshire six pre-lunch overs to negotiate and Lloyd started positively, punching Bamber off the back foot for two boundaries before he was caught at point trying to do it a third time.

Brooke Guest looked in good touch after the interval, having just driven Roland-Jones to the cover boundary when he was undone by the next ball, which nipped back down the slope to strike middle and off.

By contrast, Reece played and missed several times at the start of his innings, surviving close calls when he edged Roland-Jones and Bamber through the slips before eventually settling into his stride.

The left-hander formed a solid alliance with Madsen, whose first six scoring shots all flew to the boundary and ushered the 40-year-old beyond the landmark of 14,000 first-class runs in Derbyshire colours.

Although leg-spinner Luke Hollman caused Madsen problems, with one inside edge flying just past the stumps, he looked poised to emulate Reece’s half-century until Brookes broke the partnership with a fearsome rising delivery in the first over after tea.

Madsen, on 49, attempted to fend the ball off and could only glove it to wicketkeeper Jack Davies – yet his dismissal did little to slow Derbyshire’s scoring rate as Reece and Matt Lamb began to accelerate.

Lamb targeted the short boundary in a breezy 30 before Davies, standing up to the stumps, took a sharp catch off Higgins, but the keeper was unable to hold on to another chance soon afterwards when Bamber found Aneurin Donald’s inside edge.

Donald, who had yet to get off the mark at that stage, took advantage to progress to 43 not out as Derbyshire pocketed their second batting bonus point prior to stumps.

DAY ONE

Ryan Higgins again proved the saviour of Middlesex as the hosts fought back from early trouble to post 342-7 against visitors Derbyshire on day one at Lord’s.

The Zimbabwean-born all-rounder battled to a fourth century of the season from 152 balls, reaching his ton in the grand manner with a six into the Mound Stand as the hosts recovered from 189-6.

Higgins and Seaxes skipper Toby Roland-Jones, whose 51 not out was his first championship half-century for 21 months, rewrote the record books with their unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 112 eclipsing that of 95 by Wilf Slack and Colin Metson set at the County Ground Derby in 1981.

The late plunder was harsh on a Derbyshire attack who were excellent for much of the day, spinner Alex Thomson the pick of the bunch with 2-43.

Middlesex’s decision to bat first on winning the toss was greeted by applause from the home faithful accustomed to seeing them insert opponents this season Ironically, it soon became clear their decision had been made on the sportiest wicket seen at Lord’s this campaign.

Zak Chappell struck in the first over having Sam Robson taken at backward point, the former England opener back in the hutch without a run on the board. It set the tone for a fascinating morning’s cricket where Derbyshire’s bowlers extracted plenty of life and bounce from a green-tinged surface.

Both Mark Stoneman and Max Holden had uncomfortable moments, the former nicking one from Chappell just short of slip, while the latter slashed another swinging ball from the probing Sam Connors wide of the close-catching cordon.

The hosts appeared to have survived the worst when Stoneman flicked at a delivery wide down the leg-side from Anuj Dal, wicketkeeper Brooke Guest flying to his right to catch.

New batter Du Plooy, playing against his former county, and Thomson began a gripping duel in the run-up to lunch, the batter looking fidgety and trying to give the bowler the charge, the spinner countering, mixing some tempting tossed up deliveries with others fired in short to stop his former teammate in his tracks.

Holden was becalmed either side of lunch as the ball began to swing under increasing cloud cover and his patience ran out as he slashed a wide one to Aneurin Donald at slip.

Again, Du Plooy and Higgins weathered a storm, the former unfurling some glorious extra-cover drives and playing a delicious late cut through third in advancing to his half-century.

Thomson though proved his nemesis, when Du Plooy got too far away from one that bounced and gave Guest another catch to end a stand of 63.

He’d also account for Nathan Fernandes before tea, a ball too close to cut, flying to Wayne Madsen at slip and when Jack Davies edged through to Guest five balls after the interval, Middlesex were 189-6.

An unusually subdued Higgins, who’d been given a life on 33 when Donald grassed a chance at slip from a reverse sweep off Thomson, found sufficient rhythm to move through to 50 with five fours. Luke Hollman kept him company for a while before edging one from Daryn Pavillon to the diving Madsen at slip.

With that, Higgins began to chance his arm and ride his luck, twice edging through the gap in the slip cordon to the fence at third, and with Toby Roland-Jones reviving memories of bygone days bat in hand with a couple of dreamy cover-drives the pair rattled up a 50-partnership in good time.

The skipper broke his bat digging out a Connors Yorker and the change proved fruitful as he sent the next delivery over the short boundary into the Mound Stand. He later repeated the feat to raise the second batting bonus point and to compound Derbyshire’s growing frustration Higgins was reprieved a second time on 88 when a chance above head high at second slip fell to earth, Pavillon the unlucky bowler.

He made the most of the let-off to reach his hundred in the death throes of the day, Roland-Jones’ landmark following shortly afterwards.