Essex 161-6 Middlesex 140-8

Essex won by 21 runs

Middelsex won the toss and elected to field.

Although Cook’s triple wicket maiden was the decider at Lords, the gap between the sides in most aspects. notably catching and bowling containment, was apparent. Chasing 162 to win, Middlesex were 9-0 off two overs until the 24-year-old changed the trajectory of the match with a memorable six balls.

Cook dismissed Max Holden, Joe Cracknell and John Simpson, the last to a superb catch at third slip by Dan Lawrence, who was also the game’s top scorer.

Steve Eskinazi (43) and Jack Davies (41) put on 86 in 11.4 overs to steady the innings but did so too slowly and were unable to up the scoring necessary to meet the run rate as it increased.

As their side tried, five wickets were lost for just 13 runs and by the end, Middlesex were out of both batsmen and overs. It’s likely if you had extended either, they would still have fallen short.

It was the North Londoners’ eighth defeat in the last nine games in this form of cricket and they fell woefully short of a very average target.

Batting first, Essex innings never really broke free of the leash in making that 161 although Dan Lawrence (51 off 35 balls) and Tom Westley (50 off 41 balls) made smooth 50s.

There was never sufficient crash, bang or wallop, and the 11 they took off the last three overs left the coastal county 15-20 runs short of what seemed like an average target on the wicket given the short Tavern Stand boundary.

The two Australians were the best of the bowling attack. Jason Behrendorff finsihed with 1-14 off his four overs and spinner Chris Green with 3-16 off three overs.

They restricted Essex to just 11 runs in their last three overs, a monumental achievement. But that 10 minutes if cricket was really the only period in which the home side could seriously have been said to be in control. Until Behrerndorff came in for a cameo once the match was effectively lost, Middlesex managed just eight 4s and two 6s, eight short of Essex boundary total.

The Aussie paceman’s three late 6s put a sheen on the scoreline that disguised the gap between the sides

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