Middlesex 188 & 240
Worcestershire 191 & 238-3

Worcester (19 points) beat Middlesex (3) by 7 wickets

Worcestershire and especially Ed Pollock brought a one sided day to clinch victory after two days of close, tense and even cricket. Chasing 238, they knocked off the once seemingly tough target with wickets to spare.

Pollock’s 67 ball 100 was not just the centre piece of the innings, but of the whole game.

Resuming overnight on 180-6, Middlesex added a further 60, but from an unusual source.

New signing Umesh Yadav made 44 of them occasionally by means of boundaries that seemed not to go quite where he intended. He did however throw in some excellent cricket strokes. Either way, the runs were invaluable in a low scoring game.

He was unbeaten on 44 and Luke Hollman made it to 46 before the excellent teenage spinner Josh Baker had him dismissed. He finished with 3-62 with Dillon Pennington 3-54.

Set a target of 238, most had Middlesex down as favourites.

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Middlesex captain Tim Murtagh was in a downbeat mood after the loss

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Then the ‘Ed Pollock show’ began. He swept nine 4’s and seven 6’s on his way to a 67 ball ton. Taylor Cornall had scored just two runs by the time their partnership reached 60.

Libby’s 31 in the opening partnership of 85 cannot be discounted, but it was Pollock who dominated the Middlesex attack. He struck the ball cleanly and having made just 8 in the first innings, began aggressively from the get-go.

Roland-Jones, Murtagh, Yadav and Helm had no answer as they were frankly outclassed. Even the introduction of leg spinner Luke Hollman made no difference.

Pollock continued striking boundaries until he finally went to a catch behind for 113 off Yadav, with just 71 needed. Cornall and Jack Haynes continued at a slower pace.

Brett D’Oliveira and Cornall saw the visitors home comfortably just after 4pm for a win that had looked unlikely until Pollock took the crease.

Worcester move to 127 points while Middlesex move to 138, but the promotion race is wide open.

Middlesex Cricket

Worcestershire Cricket

Annie Chave – Cricket Columnist

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