#@middlesex_ccc

A Chawla six off the bowling of Ravi Patel found the hospitality boxes of the short Mound Stand boundary and he brought up his century with a similar shot. The pair comfortably survived until lunch as they approached their century partnership. However, it wasn’t to be as they fell one short of that landmark as Chawla fell to Patel when he was caught by Ollie Rayner at mid-off in the first over after the break. Jamie Overton, recently named in England’s one day squad, hit a quick 18 which included a six as he helped Thomas reach his fifty. He was the last man out as Patel claimed his fourth wicket with Thomas finishing unbeaten on 54.

Somerset then made the seemingly mundane pitch look like a seamer’s paradise, although they were helped by some dreadful batting. Returning captain Chris Rodgers suffered a major Ashes hangover as he was dismissed twice in the day. The first came as he edged a wide ball from Overton to Nick Compton at third slip. Joe Denly, struggling for form in the championship all season, had already been dropped by Craig Kieswetter before he clipped Lewis Gregory to Craig Meschede at square leg. Meschede then claimed two wickets with his first two balls as Sam Robson was caught behind before Neil Dexter was bowled.  John Simpson was next to go as Compton took another comfortable slip catch and after numerous play and misses Dawid Malan finally edged behind to Meschede. Alfonso Thomas then trapped Gareth Berg lbw before Ollie Rayner and James Harris provided some resistance with a partnership of 49. Chawla was brought into the attack to clean up the tail and he did exactly that by dismissing Harris, Tim Murtagh and Patel in quick succession as Middlesex were all out for 106 in just under 38 overs.

Following on, Rogers was out lbw to Gregory although it appeared that he got an inside edge. Meschede then claimed another first ball wicket as Denly edged to Marcus Trescothick at slip. Robson and Malan saw Middlesex through to 52-2 at the close but the atmosphere and body language indicates that they are in for a heavy defeat inside three days as their title hopes are all but over.

After winning the toss and choosing to field, Middlesex’s pace men restricted Kent to a modest 140-6 on what looked a batsman friendly wicket and fast outfield. Middlesex’s spinners had been the mainstay of their attack in the competition so far but Toby Roland Jones (2-19), Kyle Mills (2-28) and skipper Neil Dexter (1-20) took wickets at regular intervals as Alex Blake top scored for the visitors with an unbeaten 37. Most of Kent’s batsmen struggled to time the ball as Middlesex varied their pace with plenty of slower balls as well as constantly changing the bowling at both ends.

Middlesex made their intensions clear early in their chase as Vernon Philander, who took 4-8 when the teams met at Canterbury, saw his first two overs hit for 23. Rossington was carrying on from where he left off in that match with four fours in a Darren Stevens over before passing fifty with a six and two further boundaries off Matt Coles.  He was also given a helping hand by Sam Northeast who took a catch on the mid-wicket boundary before stepping on the rope. With 35 needed a possible century was in sight but it wasn’t to be as Rossington dragged an attempted reverse sweep onto his stumps off the bowling of James Tredwell. His innings of 74 from 37 balls (ten 4s, four 6s) follows his match winning knock at Canterbury, for which a report is also available on this blog. Joe Denly joined Dawid Malan and his brisk 30 from 20 balls saw Middlesex home with 26 balls to spare.

Adam Rossington sweeps James Tredwell for four on his way to 74

CricInfo also seem to have latched onto Rossingtion’s talent and potential as a flattering match report is available on their website at: http://es.pn/14BaaZY 

The win takes Middlesex up to second in the South Group, although third placed Hampshire have two games in hand. The sides meet at Richmond next Sunday in a match which could play a major part in quarter final qualification. Meanwhile, Kent are still pointless and rooted to the bottom of the table.