Middlesex Head to Uxbridge Sports Club on Sunday to take on Gloucestershire in their latest Vitality Blast clash of the season, in an afternoon encounter starting at 2.30pm.
An exciting opening victory against Surrey at Lord’s on Thursday was followed by a narrow defeat to Essex in Chelmsford last night, where the hosts chased down their victory target of 180 with just one ball to spare.
Both John Simpson and Stephen Eskinazi were in the runs, hitting 46 apiece from the middle order, as was Hilton Cartwright, who hit a quickfire 27* off 18 balls to help Middlesex post a competitive total of 179 for 6 on a used wicket at the Cloud FM County Ground. A 57 run opening partnership from Essex’s Wheater and Chopra got the hosts off to a flying start in their chase however, and despite the Middlesex bowlers taking regular wickets throughout, Essex had the perfect platform to build on and got home with a ball to spare, seven wickets down.
Tom Helm continues to excel with the ball, with his outstanding variance of pace causing the hosts’ batsmen plenty of problems last night, whilst Middlesex Head Coach Daniel Vettori can also take plenty of encouragement from the performances of spin duo Ravi Patel and Nathan Sowter, who bowled with great control.
On the smaller playing area of Uxbridge on Sunday, Middlesex will need all that control if they are to overcome a strong Gloucestershire side, who have historically got the better of the Seaxes in previous T20 meetings. Last year was a big exception to that rule however, as Middlesex romped to a 61 run victory, bowling out the visitors for just 100 when chasing 161, with the pace Helm and Steven Finn accounting for seven of the Gloucestershire wickets.
This time round Middlesex will be without Finn however - absent through injury, and Helm will likely be joined in the starting eleven by James Fuller and Dwayne Bravo to share the seamers’ workload.
Middlesex captain Dawid Malan makes a welcome return to the squad, having missed last night’s trip to Essex - absent with England at the T20I in Cardiff, and he will offer a welcome boost to the side as they look to get back to winning ways and build on their victory on Thursday.
Gloucestershire will come to Uxbridge on Sunday under the leadership of the hugely experienced Australian Michael Klinger, who has two former Middlesex players to call upon in his ranks. Both Tom Smith and Ryan Higgins are named in the visitors’ squad for the trip to Park Road and they’ll be going all out to help their side get their first win of their campaign under their belts.
Ryan Higgins top scored with 55 for Gloucestershire in their campaign opening defeat last night to Somerset in Taunton, as they posted 188 for 6 in their twenty overs. Somerset put the Gloucestershire bowlers to the sword however, making light work of their run chase - crossing the victory line with over three overs to spare, just four wickets down!
With both sides looking to get back to winning ways tomorrow, it promises to be a cracking encounter, and with a forecast of bright sunshine all day, a large crowd is expected at Uxbridge where the atmosphere should be electric.
Middlesex have named the following fifteen man squad for the Gloucestershire clash...
Dawid Malan (captain)
Tom Barber
Dwayne Bravo
Hilton Cartwright
Stephen Eskinazi
James Fuller
Nick Gubbins
James Harris
Tom Helm
Max Holden
Ravi Patel
George Scott
John Simpson (wicketkeeper)
Nathan Sowter
Paul Stirling
Middlesex
Gloucestershire
