Middlesex’s Vitality Blast campaign comes to an end this evening at Hove, where they’ll take on a Sussex side still very much in the frame for quarter final qualification.
It was another hard to swallow loss for Middlesex last night at Lord’s, who suffered their seventh defeat on the bounce, despite hitting their highest ever total at Lord’s in the short format of the game - an impressive 210 for 3.
Two fine knocks from Paul Stirling (78) and Eoin Morgan (77*), plus a quickfire 25 off 11 balls for James Fuller, saw Middlesex post their record total and go into the interval in good shape and happy with their work with the bat.
Again however, with the ball, despite picking up two wickets in the powerplay, the Middlesex attack were unable to stem to flow of runs from Essex, as Dan Lawrence smashed 86 and 46 balls to take Essex to their victory target with four balls to spare.
A shoulder injury saw Robbie White leave the field early last night, and unable to recover in time he will miss out on the trip to Hove, although Dawid Malan, who also left the field with an injured finger, is named in the squad in the hope that he will be fit to play. Steven Finn is the only other absentee from the squad named for last night’s clash, as having played for the seconds earlier this week and again last night, is rested, whilst managing his knee as he continues to build up his bowling workloads.
Added to the squad for tonight’s clash are both Martin Andersson and Ethan Bamber, who have been impressing with Middlesex Seconds in recent weeks, and will both be set for first eleven T20 debuts should they make the starting eleven tonight.
Middlesex’s fourteen-man squad will face a Sussex side who beat Gloucestershire last night in Bristol to stay in the race for the knockouts. A win for Sussex in Hove tonight will see them clinch the quarter final spot ahead of both Glamorgan and Surrey, who can still upset the Sharks’ charge, whilst Middlesex will be desperately hoping to record a win to put their run of losses to an end ahead of Sunday’s all important return to Championship action.
Middlesex fourteen-man squad for the clash at Hove is follows:
Dawid Malan (captain)
Martin Andersson
Ethan Bamber
Tom Barber
Stephen Eskinazi
James Franklin
James Fuller
James Harris
Eoin Morgan
Ravi Patel
George Scott
John Simpson
Nathan Sowter
Paul Stirling
Sussex
Middlesex
