We are delighted to announce that after winning three of their four national group stages matches this season, Middlesex under-17’s have qualified for the semi-final of the ECB National Cup competition.
Victories against Surrey, Kent and Sussex, and just one defeat to Essex saw Middlesex top their group with twelve points, earning them a place in the national semi-final on Sunday 30th June.
The match will be played at Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood, starting at 11am, where Middlesex will face either Hampshire or Worcestershire, dependant on remaining results being played in the West Group this coming weekend.
Middlesex opened up their account with victory over London rivals Surrey, where Max John stole the show with both bat and ball. He firstly top scored with 49 as Middlesex posted 191 in their innings, before then claiming 3 for 18 with the ball as Surrey were dismissed cheaply for just 112 to secure Middlesex a 79 run victory.
Next up it was Kent and a comprehensive 8 wicket victory, as three wickets apiece for Josh de Caires and Toby Greatwood saw Kent dismissed for 212. In reply de Caires again delivered, this time with the bat, as his top score of 88 not out saw Middlesex to their victory target with six overs to spare. De Caires shared an unbroken partnership of 191 with Atharva Prasad, who finished unbeaten on 86.
Middlesex’s solitary defeat came next in Billericay, where despite hitting 306 in their innings, Essex secured an unlikely DLS victory in a rain affected match. 97 from Prasad and 75 from John were the highlights of the Middlesex innings, before Essex reached 199 for 3 in reply, ahead of the DLS target when heavy rain forced the game to be abandoned.
Middlesex finished their group stage matches and secured their place in the semi-final with a four wicket victory over Sussex at Merchant Taylors’ where Jafer Chohan shone with the ball, picking up 5 for 74 as the visitors were bowled out for 279. Middlesex initially struggled in reply, recovering from 120 for 5 before a sixth wicket partnership between Tej Sheopuri and Ross Forrester stabilised the innings. The dismissal of Forrester saw Daniel O’Driscoll join Sheopuri at the crease and the pair put on over a hundred to take Middlesex to victory. Top scorer Sheopuri finished unbeaten on 61 and O’Driscoll was unbeaten on 60.
The Under 17’s will be looking to secure victory in the semi-final a week on Sunday and secure a place in next month’s final, which will be played at Kibworth Cricket Club in Leicestershire. Should they do so, they’ll emulate the side of 2017 who made the final and went on to lift the trophy at Kibworth back in 2017, beating Lancashire by three wickets.
