Middlesex will need to shake off the disappointment of a chastening defeat in the opening match of this season's Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign when we were undone by Worcestershire Rapids on Wednesday, going down by 183 runs at Visit Worcester New Road.
It was a performance to forget as Middlesex were comprehensively outdone with both bat and ball, and Richard Johnson's side will be keen to get back on the field and into the action again tomorrow to make amends for the shortcomings in the opener.
Mark Stoneman again leads the side out, and he will travel with an unchanged squad of fourteen for the encounter in Derby.
Stoneman himself can take much credit from the role he played with the bat on Wednesday, as he top scored for Middlesex, hitting a quickfire knock of 75 from just 37 deliveries, however it was a lack of support from those around him that saw the side unable to build any meaningful partnerships in what was a massive and daunting run chase.
The day had begun with Stoneman winning the toss and electing to bowl, but the plans with the ball didn't come together, as the Rapids openers piled on a record first-wicket partnership of 259, with Gareth Roderick (115) and Ed Pollock (180) putting the Middlesex attack to the sword. When Roderick fell, Rob Jones picked up the baton, hitting an unbeaten 44 at a little over a run-a-ball, as the hosts set a massive target of 372 for victory.
With the ball, Nathan Fernandes picked up two wickets with his left-arm spin, and Henry Brookes picked up the wicket of his brother Ethan, although that was all there was to celebrate on what was an off-day for the bowling unit, as the Rapids cashed in and hit 371 for 3.
That performance will need to be forgotten now, as we move on to Derby, with sights set on righting the wrongs from New Road, and we'll take on a Derbyshire side who themselves got their campaign off to a winning start on Wednesday, narrowly beating Northamptonshire in a low-scoring affair in Northampton.
Derbyshire had warmed-up for their opener with a clash against NCCA side Cheshire, who became one of only three National Counties to beat their first-class opponents in the round of NCCA showcase matches last weekend. Cheshire's victory was all the more impressive, as they chased down their victory target of 243 with almost 15 overs of the match to spare.
Derbyshire were able to shake that shock defeat off however going into their Metro Bank One-Day Cup opener against Northamptonshire, and that is exactly what Middlesex will need to do ahead of tomorrow's second clash of the campaign.
In Derbyshire's opening round victory against Northants, Zac Chappell was the star for Derbyshire with the ball, with the right-arm quick picking up very tidy figures of 4 for 39 from his ten overs, whilst the experience of Samit Patel also told, with the spinner picking up 3 for 41 from his allotted ten overs, as Northants were bowled out for just 235.
Derbyshire made heard work of the run chase, getting over the line eight wickets down with one over to spare, as they mounted an incredible comeback, recovering from 79 for 7 at one stage to secure victory, with 65 from Ross Whiteley and an unbeaten 94 from Zac Chappell to thank for their win.
Middlesex will of course again head into tomorrow's clash without five first team regulars again, with Stephen Eskinazi (Welsh Fire), Max Holden (Manchester Originals), Leus du Plooy (Southern Brave), Ryan Higgins (London Spirit) and Tom Helm (Birmingham Phoenix) all with their respective Hundred franchises.
With Eskinazi not featuring in Welsh Fire's opening encounter, and Higgins not in London Spirit's side either, the option for them to return to fifty-over Metro Bank One-Day Cup action remains a possibility, should they not feature in the next round of Hundred matches.
Derbyshire's squad will be missing just two of its regulars, with Aneurin Donald and Wayne Madsen both at the Hundred, with Birmingham Phoenix and Manchester Originals respectively.
The last time the two sides met in List-A cricket was all the way back in 2011, some thirteen years ago, when a five wicket haul from Steven Finn restricted Derbyshire to just 173 for 9 in what was then a Clydesdale Bank 40 encounter, before solid knocks from Dawid Malan (41), Paul Stirling (43), Chris Rogers (38*) and Neil Dexter (42*) saw Middlesex secure a seven wicket win.
Middlesex have named the following fourteen-man squad for tomorrow's match, which gets underway at 11am.
You'll be able to watch a live stream of the game, broadcast by our hosts Derbyshire, which you'll be able to watch on the Middlesex website.
Derbyshire
Middlesex
