Middlesex vs. Essex, Twenty Over Cup (Group Stage), June 22, 2009,
County Ground, Chelmsford (ICC09)
Middlesex (me): A Strauss, E Morgan, O Shah, N Dexter, N Compton, D Nash(wk), T Murtagh(vc), M Kartik, C Silverwood, T Henderson(c), A Richardson
Essex: A Cook, M Pettini, R ten Doeschate, R Bopara, J Foster(vc, wk), M Walker, V Chopra, G Napier(c), J Middlebrook, T Palladino, D Kaneria
Essex won the toss and batted. Batting orders as above.
Cook was gone first ball, bowled by Murtagh. Ten Doeschate comes in, so the over still went for 10. RtD went four better next over (bowled by Silverwood) ? 2 fours and a six. It was 55 for 1 after the powerplay. Henderson then replaced Murtagh, and on the 5th ball of the over, ten Doeschate was out, run out on a second run by a direct hit from Richardson running in from deep backward square. He had made a good 34 from 23, with 6 fours and the aforementioned six. Kartik replaced Silverwood, and then Pettini was gone, caught at backward point, for 30 off 23 (with 5 fours). Neither did Bopara last long, he was trapped in front in Henderson?s next over for 4.
Foster and Walker lasted 13 balls for 18. Then Henderson had his second leg before, catching Walker this time. So Walker departed for only 6 off 9, and Chopra enters the fray. He took Henderson for two boundaries that over to maintain the run rate. But first ball of Henderson?s next, Chopra became his third lbw victim, having only 9 off 7 to his name.
Foster?s partnership with Napier only amounted to 6, and ended last ball of the next over, which was bowled by Richardson ? and which was also a maiden. Foster thick-edged an attempted loft over mid-off, and was caught by Henderson at a deepish cover position. Essex were now 107 for 7, with five overs yet to negotiate.
Napier and Middlebrook?s partnership was the most productive since the departure of ten Doeschate. Two sixes and four fours in the next 22 balls meant that, with 8 balls left, Essex had amassed 140, still with three wickets in hand. Alas, the next two balls saw the departure of Napier (lbw for a run-a-ball 21) and Palladino caught at third man. Thus it was that the last over (bowled by Silverwood) was a relatively sedate affair, going for only 5 runs. It would have been stingier still if, on the very first ball of the over, the close lbw shout against Middlebrook had been given.
Essex 145 for 9 (ten Doeschate 34, Pettini 30,
Murtagh 4-0-39-3, Henderson 4-0-27-3)
The chase began far more auspiciously than Essex?s innings had. Strauss took Napier?s opening over for 19, and the powerplay ended without a wicket having fallen, and with an impressive 55 on the board, ten Doeschate?s third having gone for 16. So Napier turned to his spin duo, Kaneria and Middlebrook. In his second over, 17 runs later, Kaneria got the breakthrough. Strauss was his first victim, trapped in front for 44 off 34 balls. The advent of Owais Shah meant that the scoring never faltered, however. Napier?s next inspired bowling ploy was to bring Bopara on and change Kaneria to the River end. This ensured that the second wicket partnership would last only 19 balls, and that Morgan became Kaneria?s second lbw victim, having scored 35 off 28. The partnership had been productive in those few balls, however, and Middlesex were now 104 for 2. There remained 42 to get, and 49 balls from which to harvest them. Easy-peasy!
But the Shah-Dexter partnership contributed little. Dexter was caught by Cook at short leg off Palladino for a 5-ball duck, after a partnership of only 7, and the profligate misuse of 15 balls. Now the equation was 35 from 34, but with 7 wickets in hand, Middlesex remained in the box seat.
Compton, however, was another disappointment, facing the next 9 balls with only a single and a streaky boundary forward of square leg to show for it. Then he too departed, clean bowled to become Middlebrook?s first victim. There were now 30 to get off 25, and the need for a new batsman who would hit the ground running (or at least get off strike) was becoming more urgent. Wicket-keeper Nash was not that man, although the 7-ball partnership was at least worth 8. First ball of Middlebrook?s next, Nash departed stumped by Foster for 3. Twenty-two to get, off 17 balls. Five wickets down, but the new man Tim Murtagh is no slouch with the bat. He took the five remaining balls of the over for a four and a two, although he had to survive a confident lbw shout in the course of doing so.
Sixteen to get off 12, and the relatively settled Shah on strike! Napier to bowl the penultimate over. Well Mr. Shah didn?t best please us with his efforts during that over. Third ball, played and missed! Fifth ball, a single to long-off! Still fifteen to get, now off only 7. And a dot ball to Murtagh to finish for Napier. Wonderful death bowling from him ? or crappy batting?
Not great captaincy from him though. That left ten Doeschate to bowl the last over. Ten Doeschate takes wickets, but Napier must know that he?s rarely the most economical of bowlers. First ball ? wallop! Shah doesn?t get all of it, but it goes to deep extra cover. The sweeper coming around fumbles his pickup, and makes the risky three that the batsmen were flat out attempting, slightly more comfortable.
Murtagh now on strike. He can bat, but he?s not exactly the world-renowned hitter that Shah (sometimes) is. Twelve to get off 5. Ten Doeschate goes for an intimidating bouncer, but he?s a little bit wide of off with it. Semi-deliberately Murtagh upper-cuts it through the vacant slips, and fine of third man, for four. Eight needed off 4. The next ball is straighter and fuller. He?s going for the yorker, but it?s a six-inch high full toss on middle and leg. Murtagh takes a baseball swing at it. It?s not quite off the middle, but he gets plenty of it, and away it goes to square leg, flat and lightning fast, giving the boundary-riders no chance, two skidding bounces and across the rope.
One more like that will do it. Three balls to do it in! Ten Doeschate is determined not to overpitch again. This time he goes for the yorker wide of off. And it?s almost perfect. But Murtagh?s desperate swipe at it catches it just as it pitches, and dispatches it like a bullet. There?s a man at deep cover, and it?s not ten yards wide of him. But he hasn?t a chance. Game, set and match to Middlesex and their unlikely hero, Timmy Murtagh. His unbeaten 18 off 9, coupled with his three wickets, win him the Man of the Match award.
Middlesex 146 for 5 off 19.4 overs (Strauss 44, Shah 37*,
Kaneria 4-0-24-2, Middlebrook 4-0-30-2)
Middlesex defeats Essex by 5 wickets, with 2 balls to spare.
Man of the Match: Tim Murtagh
Kinda like what Callum did in his Auckland Aces world tour story
