Yesterday the Middlesex Disability D40 First Eleven had their first home game of the season, where they hosted Essex at William Perkin.
Looking to get their first win, after a narrow defeat to Surrey at the Oval a fortnight before, a strong Middlesex team took to the field having won the toss and inserted the visitors.
Whilst captain James Nordin, who shared the new ball with Mohammed Farooq, got the team off to a steady start, it was Jai Charan who made the breakthrough early on. The Essex opening batter picked out the hands of Naseer Butt, who claimed his first of two catches and two run outs in a brilliant fielding display.
Farooq (8-2-14-1) then picked up the wicket of the Essex captain moments later, before Charan (8-0-21-2) took his second of the day. Both seamers displayed great accuracy with the ball to limit the scoring options that were available to the Essex batters.
Sam Kumar (7-2-16-4) then took centre stage, bowling superbly in tandem with fellow spinner Matt Jones (8-0-15-0), who, whilst going wicketless, continued the tight squeeze that had been put on to restrict the opposition’s ability to score runs.
Kumar claimed his first wicket when he pinned the Essex number three LBW, who top scored with 26 and his side on 69/5, before going on to run through the lower order and finish with four wickets.
Nordin (5.3-0-33-1) returned to get a wicket for himself, before Butt’s second run out ended the Essex innings in the 39th over with 109 runs on the board.
By the time Maddox Colby (10) fell in the fourth over, Middlesex were already on 26 runs, as Aryan Janjale joined Umesh Valjee at the crease. The pair took the bowlers apart, playing some elegant cricket shots as they piled on the runs in the Ealing sunshine.
Valjee finished on 43*, and Janjale scored 37*, as they guided the hosts comfortably towards the target in just the 22nd over of the chase to complete a nine wicket victory.
The D40 1XI are next in D40 Quest action on Sunday 4 June, when they travel down to play last year’s winners Hampshire. The Second Eleven also head south to Hampshire for their next game and will be encouraged by their display last week, despite a six run loss to Surrey.
The Super 9s made it two wins from two yesterday, beating Essex by seven wickets at Chiswick, and sit top of the S9 Regional South East table with their unbeaten start.
You can see the scorecard here.
