Middlesex T20 Vitality Blast Campaign Faltering Yet Again (Part 1)

The Story of the Campaign So Far

MIDDLESEX'S T20 Vitality Blast campaign continued in much the same way as previous seasons - lacking quality and with no real consistency compared with other more impressive sides in the strong Southern Group. The first two home games at Lord's were early in the fixture list due to the Test Match and Women's T20 World Cup and went the usual way with wins for the visitors. There followed two home games at leafy Merchant Taylors' School where there was no improvement, but a rare win at Hove was a shock for Seaxe supporters who made the journey to the seaside. The first batch of six games has seen one win and five losses.

Kent (Lord's) - Kent won by 27 runs

Kent beat Middlesex at Lord's in the opening T20 Vitality Blast game by 27 runs. Kent amassed 208 for 6 from their 20 overs with Sam Billings hitting 84 not out from 37 balls with four boundary 6's and nine boundary 4's. He was supported by Tawanda Muyeye with 38 and Zak Crawley with 36. Middlesex pick of the bowlers was Noah Cornwell with 2 for 25. Middlesex never really got close to winning this encounter but did reach 181 for 8 from their 20 overs with Adam Rossington 79 runs from 43 balls with four boundary 6's and nine boundary 4's. Max Holden 20, Leus du Plooy 19 and Seb Morgan 19 chipped in with useful contributions but the Pinkies were never in this one. Tom Rogers for the visitors picked up 4 for 39 with the ball.

Surrey (Lord's) - Surrey won by 6 wickets

The first of two quick-fire London Derbies saw Middlesex well beaten by Surrey at Lord's by 6 wickets. Middlesex scored 143 for 8 from their 20 overs. Max Hollman top scored with 35 not out from 28 balls with four boundary 4's and Eathan Bosch the new South African overseas star weighed in with 31 from 18 balls with two boundary 6's and two boundary 4's. Surrey's Reece Topley 2 for 39 and Yousef Majid 2 for 25 were the pick of the bowlers. Surrey won comfortably scoring 144 for 4 from 18.3 overs with captain Sam Curran hitting 71 not out from 47 balls with four boundary 6's and six boundary 4's. Laurie Evans supported him with 34 not out from 21 balls with two boundary 6's and three boundary 4's. Tom Helm bowled well with 2 for 9 for Middlesex.

Sussex Sharks (Hove) - Middlesex won by 31 runs

Middlesex beat Sussex at Hove by 31 runs which was a shock result as the Seaxes don't tend to do that well at Hove. Middlesex scored 213 for 4 from 20 overs with Josh de Caires 80 not out from 44 balls with five boundary 6's and seven boundary 4's. He was ably supported by Max Holden with 77 from 41 balls with five boundary 6's and six boundary 4's. Leus du Plooy hit 36 useful runs from 21 balls with four boundaries. Tymal Mills bagged 3 for 31 for Sussex with the ball. Sussex were dismissed for 182 all out with Tom Alsop 43, James Coles 33, Tom Clark 31 and Tymal Mills 20 not out scoring useful runs. Middlesex pick of the bowlers was Tom Helm 3 for 41, Eathan Bosch 2 for 37 and Zafar Gohar 2 for 38.

Hampshire Hawks (Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood) - Hampshire won by 8 wickets

Hampshire beat Middlesex convincingly by 8 wickets at Merchant Taylors' School in the fourth T20 Vitality Blast match of the competition. Middlesex struggled on a tricky wicket scoring only 126 for 7 from 20 overs. Luke Hollman top scored with 47 not out from 33 balls with seven boundaries but went in at number 7 rather than higher up the order. Chris Wood 2 for 20 and Liam Dawson 2 for 24 were the pick of the Hampshire bowlers. Hampshire eased to victory scoring 130 for 2 from 14 overs with James Vince 45 from 29 balls with seven boundaries, Joe Weatherley 36 not out and Hilton Cartwright 29 not out. Eathan Bosch 1 for 15 was the best bowler for Middlesex in a dreary match.

Surrey (KIA Oval) - Surrey won by 8 wickets

The return London derby against Surrey at the KIA Oval went Surrey's way again with another big 8-wicket thumping. Middlesex made 130 for 7 from 20 overs with Luke Hollman 31 not out and Ryan Higgins 27 top scoring. Sean Abbott 2 for 16 and Jordan Clark 2 for 31 were the pick of the Surrey bowlers. Surrey then raced to 134 for 2 from 14.1 overs with Ollie Pope 51 not out from 33 balls with seven boundaries and Jason Roy 46 from 31 balls with seven boundaries leading the way. Tom Helm 1 for 25 and Noah Cornwell 1 for 29 chipped in with a couple of wickets for Middlesex but it was one-way traffic again for the South Londoners.

Essex (Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood) - Essex won by 60 runs

Essex beat Middlesex by 60 runs. Essex amassed 176 for 5 from 20 overs with Luc Benkenstein 67 from 56 balls with ten boundaries and Charlie Allison 61 from 37 balls with nine boundaries scoring the majority of the runs. Seb Morgan bagged 2 for 34 for the hosts. Middlesex were dismissed for 116 all out in 17.5 overs with Ryan Higgins top scoring with 36. Essex's Noah Thain took 3 for 11 to set up a big victory.

After Part 1 of the competition Middlesex currently have 4 points from 6 games, bottom (6th) placed in the strong Southern Group with Hampshire Hawks top on 20 points. The pick of the teams in the competition so far being Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire and Hampshire.

Looking Ahead

The next batch of games sees Middlesex play Glamorgan (Cardiff), Durham (Richmond), Essex (Chelmsford), Hampshire (Southampton), Sussex Sharks (Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood) and Kent (Canterbury).

Author's Picks

• Best Batter - Josh de Caires - 80 not out from 44 balls in the win at Hove, anchoring a 213-run total
• Best Batter - Luke Hollman - top scored in two difficult chases, showing character with the bat lower down the order
• Best Bowler - Tom Helm - 3 for 41 at Hove the highlight of a consistent campaign so far
• Best Bowler - Noah Cornwell - steady with the ball throughout, picking up key wickets in tough conditions