Game One
Middlesex 179/4
Essex 180/9
ESSEX WON BY 1 WICKET
In the first T20 of the day Essex won the toss and inserted Middlesex at Coggeshall. With Lace and Andersson at the crease, the pair got off to a blistering start, putting on a partnership of 56 before the former was dismissed by Nijjar for 17. The same bowler was at it again shortly after, this time dismissing Andersson for 39, with Middlesex on 63/2. With G Scott and White at the crease, the pair were able to forge a decent 27 run partnership to help strengthen the Middlesex innings, before G Scott was caught by Khushi off the bowling of Sullivan. With Middlesex 90/3 at the halfway stage, White continued his fine innings as he top scored for the visitors with an unbeaten 65 off 44 balls, as Middlesex finished their innings on 179/4.
In reply, Essex started strongly, as the opening batting pair of Velani and Patel forged a 56 run partnership with just over 5 overs gone to give the hosts a chance of chasing down Middlesex's target. Despite two wickets falling in relatively quick succession, including that of Velani who top scored with a brilliant 88, the hosts were in a commanding position on 135/3 after 13 overs. However, a devastating spell of bowling from Hollman tore through the Essex innings, with the bowler picking up 4 quick wickets to complete his 5 wicket hall, with Essex only able to add nine further runs to the scoreboard in that time. With Essex now on 146/7, the game looked firmly in the balance and after Bocking was caught by Hollman off the bowling of Duke, it looked as though the game was turning in the visitors favour. However, runs were added to the scoreboard further down the innings and despite the game going down to the wire, Essex were victors by 1 wicket.
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Game Two
Middlesex 191/5
Essex 165/7
MIDDLESEX WON BY 26 RUNS
Essex once again won the toss and inserted Middlesex at Coggeshall, as the visitors looked to avenge their defeat in the first game. With Lace and Andersson at the crease, the pair put on a useful partnership of 31 before the latter was dismissed by Melton for 18. With G Scott the new man at the crease, he was able to forge a solid 51 run partnership with Lace, before the latter fell for a superb 54 off just 28 balls. Middlesex then lost the wickets of White and Perera in quick succession, although with new man De Caires at the crease, the side were able to gain momentum. His 79 run partnership with the excellent G Scott helped Middlesex to a strong total of 191/5.
In response, Essex got off to a blistering start, reaching 21 off just 1.4 overs, before Velani was dismissed by Reingold. Essex were able to forge useful partnerships throughout the innings and despite losing wickets, the hosts were 103/4 after 11 overs. However, Middlesex were able to restrict Essex with some brilliant bowling spells and at 139/7 after just over 17 overs, things looked bleak for the hosts. The final pair at the crease were Ali and Sullivan who were able to add a further 24 runs to the innings, although it wasn't enough for Essex as they lost the game by 26 runs.
