Middlesex return to Radlett tomorrow where they'll face Surrey in their third fifty-over clash of the summer, and First-Team Coach, Richard Johnson, has named a squad of fourteen to take on London rivals in the Royal London Cup.
They make just one change to the squad who comprehensively defeated Durham by nine wickets on Sunday, with young seamer Max Harris coming into the squad as a replacement for batter Josh De Caires who misses out tomorrow.
At Chester-le-Street on Sunday it was a day to remember for Middlesex, who dominated with both bat and ball throughout.
With ball in hand, Middlesex's plans were well executed throughout the innings, as the hosts were bowled out inside their allotted fifty overs, dismissed for 268 in the final over of the innings. Indian paceman Umesh Yadav was the pick of the bowlers, claiming his first five wicket haul for the Club, whilst young Luke Hollman picked up 4 for 68 with his leg-spin.
A terrific start for Middlesex set the hosts back, as three wickets in the first six overs had Durham in trouble on 16 for 3 and in dire need of a recovery, before Michael Jones and Alex Lees came to the rescue. The pair added 109 for the fourth wicket, with Jones going on to post the highest score of the innings - 109 off 118 deliveries. It is the second time this season that Jones has been the thorn in Middlesex's side, after the young batter hit a career-high 206 in the Championship clash a fortnight ago to deny Middlesex any chance of victory.
In reply, and chasing 269 for victory, Middlesex never looked in trouble, with the in-form Stephen Eskinazi smashing an unbeaten 146 off 132 deliveries, with fellow opener Mark Stoneman adding 62 from 60 balls as the pair put on 132 for the opening wicket.
The loss of Stoneman saw Sam Robson come to the crease, and he merely continued where Stoneman had left off, adding an unbeaten 55 off 59 balls, to see his side to victory with Eskinazi with almost ten overs to spare.
Tomorrow, Middlesex face a Surrey side who have been absolutely decimated by calls-up to the second year of the Hundred, with no fewer than thirteen of their squad absent with their respective Hundred franchises this month or with the England Lions in their current series against South Africa. Tomorrow's visitors will be missing; Sam Curran, Jason Roy, Tom Curran, Rory Burns, Sunil Narine, Will Jacks, Reece Topley, Dan Worrall, Laurie Evans, Jamie Overton, Chris Jordan, Dan Moriarty and Ollie Pope.
Despite such a heavy role-call of absentees, Surrey have made a good fist of things thus far in the fifty-over competition, picking up three points from their opening three encounters. They were beaten heavily by Leicestershire in their opener by seven wickets, before bouncing back to demolish Durham by nine wickets next time out, and then on Sunday playing in a tied affair with Warwickshire, chasing 294 for victory, they were dismissed for 293 in the final over of the innings.
Middlesex will be looking to emulate their own performance on Sunday, focussing on all the positives from what was a stellar performance with both bat and ball, whilst Surrey will be looking to get back to winning ways themselves. With both sides battling for London derby bragging rights, it promises to be an entertaining and hard fought encounter.
The last time the two sides met in a list-A encounter was back in 2019, when Middlesex ran out winners by 37 runs at the Kia Oval. Ross Taylor and Toby-Roland-Jones both top scored for Middlesex with knocks of 64 and 45 respectively, whilst with the ball, Tom Helm and Nathan Sowter shone with the ball, sharing eight wickets between them. None will feature this time round, with the latter three all currently with their Hundred franchises, whilst Surrey's side for tomorrow will bear little resemblance to the side that lost to Middlesex three years ago, with only Conor McKerr likely to play for the visitors tomorrow. The only other player likely to feature from that fixture is Mark Stoneman, who played for Surrey in 2019 and has since jumped across the Thames and will play for Middlesex tomorrow.
Middlesex have named the following fourteen-man squad for tomorrow's encounter:
Middlesex
Surrey
