Middlesex are back at Uxbridge Sports Club tomorrow, when they'll play Somerset in the fourth NatWest T20 Blast clash of their 2017 campaign, in a clash starting at 2.30pm.
Having opened up with a tie and a win against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham College and against Surrey at Lord's, Middlesex went down by 29 runs to Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl last night, as the South Coast side won their third straight game to maintain their position at the top of the South Group table.
Brendon McCullum's men were set a target of 190 to win down in Southampton, although the loss of early wickets put them on the back foot, and having fallen to 74 for 7, it was left to bowling all-rounder Tim Southee to smash a 32-ball unbeaten 64 to get the Middlesex total somewhere close to respectability, before they ultimately fell short of their goal.
With Middlesex looking some way off their best last night, they will be keen to get things back on track tomorrow at Uxbridge in front of their home crowd.
In contrast to previous seasons in the short format of the game, Somerset's campaign this year has started dismally, with the West Countrymen yet to secure a win in any of their three opening encounters.
Having already lost to Surrey in their opener at the Oval and then against Essex at Chelmsford, they earned the first point of their campaign tonight, in a rained off abandoned match against Glamorgan in Cardiff.
Daniel Vettori names a thirteen-man Middlesex squad for the visit of Somerset tomorrow, which includes the same top four of Paul Stirling, Dawid Malan, Brendon McCullum and Eoin Morgan. There's no better top four in the competition, and whilst they've failed to get the Seaxes off to a flying start yet in the competition, it's surely only a matter of time before they come off and inflict a heavy onslaught of runs. On what has traditionally been a batsman's deck at Uxbridge, there's every chance that tomorrow could be the day for a proper Middlesex run-fest.
With the ball, Toby Roland-Jones leads the wicket-taking for Middlesex with five victims, whilst Tom Helm and Tim Southee both have four to their names, closely followed by Nathan Sowter and James Franklin with three, and all five are named in Dan Vettori's squad for tomorrow.
With three points on the board from three games played to date, a win for Middlesex tomorrow at Uxbridge will put them right in the frame at the top of the table, ahead of another home out-ground tie at Old Deer Park in Richmond on Thursday night against Kent.
Tickets are still available to purchase on the gates tomorrow, which open at 1pm, priced at £20 for adults, £10 for over 65's and just £5 for under 16's, so head on down to Uxbridge tomorrow and give Middlesex your support.
Middlesex have named the following thirteen-man squad:
Brendon McCullum (captain)
Steven Finn
James Franklin
Tom Helm
Ryan Higgins
Dawid Malan
Eoin Morgan
Ravi Patel
Toby Roland-Jones
Paul Stirling
Tim Southee
Nathan Sowter
John Simpson (wicket-keeper)
