All of Middlesex’s wins have come from chasing so it was no surprise when Neil Dexter chose to field. After losing both openers to Gareth Berg in the third over, Kevin O’Brien (54) and Vikram Solanki led the recovery as Surrey looked set for a huge score at 103-2 after 10 overs. The Irishman, famous for his match winning innings against England at the 2011 World Cup, reached his fifty from just 22 balls as he took advantage of the short boundary to the Tavern and Mound stands. He was bowled by emerging left arm spinner Ravi Patel (3-28) two balls later, who then also dismissed Solanki (37) and Gary Wilson (4) as Surrey’s innings threatened to collapse at 116-5. Azhar Mahmood (35 from 20) helped Surrey regain the momentum before a brilliant last over from Gareth Berg (3-37), which saw two wickets and just four runs, restricted them to 178-7.

On paper Middlesex had their strongest batting line up of the competition as they were boosted by the return of Eoin Morgan after his recent broken finger. However, it didn’t matter as he and his team mates were blown away by an inform Surrey bowling attack with Chris Tremlett looking back to his best. Middlesex were soon in trouble as the tournament’s leading run scorer Dawid Malan went for a third ball duck before Tremlett claimed Joe Denly and Adam Voges in the third over. Paul Stirling (19) was Azhar Mahmood’s second wicket before Morgan was brilliantly caught by Jason Roy at backward point from the bowling of Jon Lewis. Adam Rossington soon followed as he spliced an attempted pull shot to Wilson off Jade Dernbach as the Panthers slumped to 40-6 in the seventh over. The only resistance came from Gareth Berg (33) but after he was the eighth wicket to fall Middlesex were all out for 92 in just 14 overs.

After restricting Middlesex to a below par 162-5, Hampshire openers James Vince and Michael Carberry racked up 83 runs from the six powerplay overs – and that was after the first over went for just five. Carberry smashed Kyle Mills’ second over for 24 before Vince hit Gurjit Sandhu for five consecutive fours. Just as it was beginning to look like the pair were going to pass the target on their own, Carberry was the victim of an unfortunate run out. Spinner Ravi Patel’s slight deflection from Vince’s drive meant he was run out for an impressive 43 from just 16 balls. Carberry has been on the fringes of England’s one day team and on this evidence deserves serious consideration for a run in the side. He may also be an option for The Ashes if Joe Root needs to move down the order and the selectors still don’t fancy Nick Compton.

Jimmy Adams joined Vince and a partnership of 70 took the Royals to within a boundary of victory before they were both dismissed by Sandhu. Vince was caught by Paul Stirling at mid-on for 84 from 49 balls before Adams was caught behind two balls later. It was left to Sean Ervine to hit the winning runs from the first ball of the sixteenth over.

Earlier, after Hampshire had chosen to field, Dawid Malan continued his recent strong form in the competition with 77 as he was caught off the last ball of his side’s innings. However, Middlesex’s slow start meant they were 20-30 runs short of posting a competitive score given the pitch and outfield conditions. Adam Voges (28 from 17) and Adam Rossington (26 from 16) helped quicken the run rate as Middlesex scored 100 from their second 10 overs. Despite this, the feeling was that Hampshire were favourites, although few anticipated they would reach their target with such ease. Dimitri Mascarenhas bowled his four overs upfront and produced typically miserly figures of 1-19. Vince also chipped in with a useful 1-5 from his two overs.  

Hampshire's dominance was too much for some Middlesex supporters

On arriving at the ground it was obvious rain would play a part at some point and after winning the toss Middlesex made the sensible decision to field first with Duckworth Lewis in mind. Kent reached 36-1 after 5 overs before the first bout of rain kept the teams off for just over an hour. On resumption the match was reduced to 15 overs per side and some slopping fielding and bowling from Middlesex helped Kent reach a challenging 129-5. Tim Murtagh in particular struggled with the wet ball as he bowled a series of high full tosses, conceding 30 from his 3 overs, as well as dropping a relatively simple catch on the boundary.

Rossington began the match well with the gloves as he took catches off Kent openers Rob Key and Sam Northeast, before throwing down the stumps to dismiss Alex Blake. Kent were boosted towards the end of their innings by Darren Stevens (26 from 10) and new signing Philander (13 from 7).

Starting their chase needing nearly 9 an over Middlesex were soon in deep trouble as Philander tore through their top order. The South African clean bowled the dangerous Paul Stirling in the first over before former Kent man Joe Denly was caught behind in his second over to leave Middlesex 8-2 after 16 balls. Philander was making full use of the damp, bowler friendly conditions as the visitors struggled to lay any bat on most of his deliveries.

Some more rain resulted in another break with the loss of 3 overs and Middlesex facing a reduced target of 111 from 12 overs. The match looked over as Philander took the wickets of Dawid Malan and Adam Voges in his third and final over to finish with the amazing figures of 4-8. With the score on 27-4 after 5 overs, Middlesex needed to score at two runs a ball.

Neil Dexter joined Rossington and despite hitting England spinner James Tredwell for consecutive sixes, he then skied a catch to Sam Billings off the bowling of Stevens and Middlesex were 56-5. Rossington hit the next two balls for ten runs and the 4 byes which followed left the visitors needing 41 from the last 4 overs. Kent were still favourites but Philander was beginning to fear the worst and checked the scoreboard numerous times as Rossington was attempting to pull off an amazing recovery.

Philander's figures meant Middlesex scored 103 from the remaining 9 overs

A tight over from Tredwell looked to have swung the momentum back in Kent’s favour as the equation went to 36 from 18 balls. However, Matt Coles’ first over went for 17 with a six apiece from Rossington and Josh Davey before a boundary free over from Mitchell Claydon left Middlesex needing eleven from the last over. A single from Davey gave Rossington the strike and he sealed an unlikely win with a four followed by a premeditated sweep for six with two balls to spare.   

Middlesex now face four games in the next week starting with Sussex and Essex at Lords, followed by Surrey at The Oval and Kent at Uxbridge.

On a separate note, don't ever drive your car to the St Lawrence ground, it'll cost you £15 to park it inside! 

Kent: Northeast, Key, Billings, Stevens, Blake Harmison, Philander, Tredwell, Coles, Claydon, Riley