Yesterday at Merchant Taylors' School, Middlesex's Boys Under 18s side went head to head with their young London rivals from Surrey, and came out on top, as they secured a five wicket victory in the ECB National Under 18s 50-Over County Cup Quarter-Final.
As a result they have earned a place in the Semi-Finals, when they'll face Somerset in Taunton on Sunday 11th August. The other Semi-Final will see Leicestershire take on Yorkshire.
Yesterday began with Surrey skipper, Adam Thomas, winning the toss and electing to bat first in Northwood, with Naavya Sharma and Sam Graham taking the new ball attack for Middlesex.
The seam pair wasted no time in getting into the visitors' line-up, as Graham struck twice and Sharma once in the opening nine overs to reduce the visitors to 40 for 3.
Surrey then built what was to be their only meaningful partnership of the innings, as Karpe and Fox added 67 runs for the fourth wicket.
The dismissal of Karpe, in the 24th over, with the score on 107 for 4, saw Nilesh Bhandari pick up the first of four wickets he took in the innings, finishing with fine figures of 4 for 41 from 10 overs, with regular wickets falling throughout the Surrey innings.
Bhandari's figures saw him stand out as the pick of the attack, whilst Graham's 2 for 32 and Eddie Campion's 2 for 43 offered fantastic support, as the visitors were dismissed inside 43 overs, having put just 195 on the board.
Middlesex's reply had three batters to largely thank for getting them to their target, with Dylan Rawal leading the way.
The young right-hand opener led from the front, hitting an excellent 94 from 110 deliveries as the anchor of the Middlesex innings.
Support for the opener came from Aaryan Sawant at number three, who hit 45 from 78 balls, and Caleb Falconer, who hit an unbeaten 32 off 45 deliveries.
Middlesex got to their target for the loss of five wickets in 44 overs, to bank themselves a place in the semis against Somerset.
Middlesex's path to the Semi-Finals has seen then beat Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Surrey, as shown below:
Round One: Hertfordshire 238 all out (49.2) v Middlesex 242 for 3 (30.1) - Middlesex won by 7 wickets
Round Two: Buckinghamshire 187 all out (48.4) v Middlesex 190 for 1 (28.3) - Middlesex won by 9 wickets
Round Three: Middlesex 237 for 6 (50) v Essex 150 all out (36.2) - Middlesex won by 127 runs
Quarter Final: Surrey 195 all out (42.5) v Middlesex 196 for 5 (44) - Middlesex won by 5 wickets
Congratulations to Middlesex's Under 18s on reaching the Semi-Finals and good luck against Somerset on 11th August 2024.
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