FL t20 Highlights

• 09 July 2012

  Kent won the toss and put the Panthers into bat first. Dexter & Stirling started well both finding early boundaries before Stirling was out with the score on 12. The Panthers had reached 34-1 at the end of the powerplay overs & then 53-2 in the 8th when Crook was out for 18. Dexter (42) however kept the ball ticking over. Malan was out off the last ball of the 11th, and when Dexter followed soon after, wickets then kept tumbling & the Panthers finished their 20 overs on 124-9.
  In the reply, the Panthers needed early wickets, and had a good start when Billings was out in the 2nd over. The Spitfires were 47-3 at the end of the 8th losing both Key and Northeast, but after Stevens hit some big sixes, they only needed 60 off the last 10 overs. The Spitfires won by 3 wickets with 6 balls remaining.

• 08 July 2012

  Surrey won the toss and chose to bat first. They made an excellent start with boundaries aplenty, reaching 50 without loss from the powerplay overs. They were then 76-0 at the half way point but Smith made a breakthrough at the beginning of the 11th over. Surrey finished their 20 overs on a challenging 154-4. The Panthers then made a good start to their reply with Dexter (41) hitting boundaries off the first 3 balls. Stirling was out off the 8th ball of the innings but runs kept coming and the Panthers reached 50 in the 4th over. Progress then slowed down with the fall of 3 wickets and they reached 81-4 at the halff way point. When the score reached 106-7 in the 15th over, it looked like it might be all over. But Wilkin & Rayner kept the runs ticking over & the Panthers reached the final over needing 3 more runs to win. Rayner was out 1st ball, and Wilkin out off the 3rd, which left Murtagh & Smith to get 3 from 3, which they did with 1 ball to spare. The Pantherrs won by 1 wicket!

• 06 July 2012

  The Panthers won the toss and elected to bat first. However, by the end of the 7th over they were 3 wickets down with only 35 runs on the board. Boundaries were at a premium and Denly & Berg added 28 balls before Berg fell for 12 in the 13th over with the score on 63-4. Denly (53) reached his 50 at the start of the 17th over, coming off 50 balls. But wickets kept falling & the Panthers were finally all out for 109 with 1 ball remaining.

  In reply, the Eagles lost Franklin in the 2nd over, but runs then started to come easily for Pettini and Smith with them reaching 68-1 at the half way point, needing just 42 to win. It wasn't over yet though as wickets started to fall, with Panthers' debutant Ollie Wilkin coming to the fore. However, it came too late and the Eagles won the match by 2 wickets with 14 balls remaining. Wilkin took 3-12 and Smith 3-24.

• 03 July 2012

  Pinky the Panther has been putting in the hard yards on a strict and brutal training regime in recent weeks, in preparation for his big day in the final of the mascot's race at finals day in Cardiff! In this video he hooks up with Middlesex Academy player Harry Podmore and Middlesex all-rounder Steven Crook, as the three of them were put through their paces by Jarhead, AKA Luke Woodhouse, Middlesex CCC's Strength and Conditioning Coach and then Pinky pounds the pavements of St Johns Wood as he fine tunes himself for the big race!

• 28 June 2012

  The Royals won the toss and elected to bowl first at Old Deer Park, Richmond. The Panthers got off to a good start with Stirling dominating. He lost Denly (8) in the 5th over with the score on 38. He and Rossington then added a further 67 runs for the 2nd wicket in the 15th over before the latter was out for 18. Some good bowling from the Royals meant that only 9 runs was scored between overs 12 & 15 which slowed up the run rate. However, Stirling (82*), who scored his highest ever T20 score, & Malan (30*) added a further 51 runs to the total, and the Panthers ended their innings on 156-2.

  The Royals started slowly & with Adams out in the 3rd over, Vince soon following & McKenzie out before the end of the power play overs, they were 41-3 in the 6th over. Katich (40) & Vince (75*) then let loose, & the Panthers couldn't get the wickets when they needed them. The Royals chased down the runs & won by 4 wickets with 4 balls to spare.

• 27 June 2012

  Middlesex won the toss (finally!) and elected to bat first. Openers Stirling and Denly got off to a fantastic start with 81 runs scored from the 6 power play overs and Stirling's 50 coming off just 21 balls. At the half way point the Panthers were 103-0. Stirling was then out in the 12th over for 63 (127-1) but Morgan joined Denly at the crease, and they set about increasing the total. The Panthers finished on 207-2, with Morgan out in the final over (36 off 18 balls) and Denly carrying his bat on a superb 90*.

  In reply, the Spitfires were soon left with too much to do. Northeast and Billings threatened for a while, taking the score to 88-0 after 10 overs. But once Billings was out in the 11th over for 43 the match changed dramatically. Stevens was then out for 1, and then with the score on 120-2 in the 14th over, 4 wickets fell in 4 successive balls. Kent endeded their innings on 159-7 and the Panthers won by 48 runs. Dexter took 3-22 from his 4 overs.

• 23 June 2012

  Skipper Dexter lost another toss at Hove and the Panthers were put in the field for this their 5th t20 match of the 2012 campaign. Wright & Nash opened for the Sharks and their partnership made 40 off 27 balls before Nash went caught by Davey. The Sussex 100 was brought up in 14th over and Wright made 50 off 36 balls. Goodwin & Murray took the score to 146 in the 19th over before Goodwin departed for 18 caught by Davey off the bowling of Berg to bring in Styris. 14 was hit off the final over bowled by Crook with Wright out on the final bowl of the innings for 91, with Sussex making 161. Berg the pick of the Middlesex bowlers with 2 wickets in his 3 overs for 20.

  Simpson and Denly opened for the Panthers and their partnership realised 62 before Denly was out caught by Gatting on the boundary off the bowling of Beer. Crook was put up the order and made a quick 19 off 15 balls. Simpson was caught on the boundary after hitting the previous ball for 6, making 32 off 37 balls. Quick runs were needed and both Rossington and Dexter were out caught trying to clear the boundary both making 1. The Panthers needed 51 to win from 4 overs but fell 21 runs short, making 140 with Rayner and Berg the not out batsmen (6 and 10 respectively).

• 22 June 2012

  Essex Eagles won the toss and Lord's and elected to bat first, in what ended up as a thrilling 6 run defeat for the Panthers. Essex started well, and didn't lose their first wicket until the end of the 7th over, when Pettini was bowled by Rayner for 26. They then brought up their 100 in the 14th over, but ten Doeschate (38) was out shortly after lbw to Dexter. The Panthers finished off the Essex innings strongly with only 1 boundary in their final four overs, and the Eagles closed their innings on 155-6 (Rayner 2-16 off 4 overs & Berg 2-27 were the pick of the bowlers). In reply, the Panthers top order struggled and were 26-3 at the start of the 5th over. Rossington (22) was then unlucky to be given out lbw despite the ball finding an inside edge. At the half-way point the Panthers were 46-5. Berg and Simpson then added 43 runs for the next wicket, with Berg making 39. But it was Crook (22 off 17 balls) and Rayner (39* off 21 balls), who really started chasing down the Essex total. Unfortunately, despite a fine effort from the lower order, the Panthers fell just short on 149-9, losing to the Essex Eagles by 6 runs.

• 19 June 2012

  The Royals, who won the toss and elected to bat first then started well at the Ageas Bowl. The Panthers had their breakthrough in the 4th over when Roland-Jones bowled Adams with the score on 32-1. Roland-Jones then struck in his next over, and at the end of the 8th over the Royals were 53-4. Taking the wicket of Mascarenhas in the 18th over was important for the Panthers, & the Royals ended their 20 overs on 157-6 with Vince 64*. Roland-Jones took 4-25 and Smith 2-30.

  In reply, Denly & Rogers opened, but Denly was out in the 2nd over & Rogers followed in the next with the score on 18-2. This brought Stirling & Malan to the crease, and they took the score onto 83-2 at the end of the 10th. Malan was out in the 16th over for 46 after they had added 107 runs for the 3rd wicket, and then Stirling followed in the 17th on 71. That bought 2 new batsmen in Dexter & Berg to the crease, needing 23 to win off 21 balls. This they did with 4 balls to spare & the Panthers won by 6 wickets; their first victory in the Friends Life t20 this year.

• 18 June 2012

  Michael Yardy won the toss for the Sharks, and chose to bat first. Steven Crook struck with his first delivery when Luke Wright was caught at the wicket for one. Machan (9) holed out to Neil Dexter at mid-off in Crook's next over and when Gareth Berg replaced Crook after two overs at the Nursery End and had Nash caught by Malan at mid-wicket for nine, Sussex were reduced to 26-3 after six overs.
  
  Joe Gatting joined Murray Goodwin & the pair added thirty runs for the fourth wicket before Tom Smith bowled Gatting for eleven. Styris joined Goodwin and they took the visitors to 91-4 after 14 overs with Tom Smith having bowled four overs straight through to take 1-29. Toby Roland-Jones bowled Goodwin for 43 and Styris was out in the 19th over when he drove Roland-Jones to Gareth Berg at extra-cover, Styris's innings of 48 coming off just 30 balls. The final over of the innings began with the total on 139-6 but only four runs came off it with Gareth Berg having Ben Brown (9) brilliantly caught by Tom Smith at deep backward square-leg and Michael Yardy (1) brilliantly caught by the diving Steven Crook at deep mid-wicket. Gareth Berg finished with figures of 3-17 from 3 overs, Toby Roland-Jones 2-19 from 4 overs with Steven Crook taking 2-29 from 3 overs.

  In reply, Dawid Malan and Joe Denly put on 24 for the first wicket before Denly was caught by Machan at deep mid-on off Chris Liddle's bowling for seven & Stirling top edged a pull and was caught at mid-wicket by Yardy for 2. Neil Dexter joined Dawid Malan but the pair struggled to find the boundary against Yard's slow left-arm bowling and Will Beer's leg-spin. At the half-way point of the innings, the Panthers had reached 50-2. Dawid Malan was caught by Goodwin at deep mid-wicket for 38 (off 35 balls) from Beer's bowling. Theron replaced Yardy & Dexter, who had managed only eleven singles from 18 balls faced, then hit Theron for a six and a four off successive balls. Middlesex reached 98-3 with five overs remaining. Berg was caught at backward point for 23 (off 21 balls) & Simpson gave Middlesex hope by taking ten runs off Theron's third over to leave the Panthers needing 22 runs off the last two overs of the match. However, Middlesex's hopes were dashed in the penultimate over when Liddle struck three times. Neil Dexter was caught at the wicket off the third ball for 36 (off 33 balls) and after Ollie Rayner scored a single off the fourth ball, John Simpson was caught at deep mid-on for ten and Chris Rogers was bowled behind his legs for a duck. Steven Crook joined Ollie Rayner with nineteen needed off the final over and after five runs came off the first three balls of Theron's over, Rayner (2) was beaten by Joe Gatting's throw to the bowlers' end as they attempted a second run. Only one run was scored off the final two balls of the over as Middlesex finished on 132-8 to lose the match by eleven runs.

• 15 June 2012

  A crowd of just over 15,000 were at Lord's last night to watch the first t20 match for the Panthers in this season Flt20 campaign versus local rivals Surrey. Rory Hamilton-Brown won the toss for Surrey and he opened the batting with Steven Davies. Steven Crook bowled Hamilton-Brown for four with the last ball of the 2nd over. Toby Roland-Jones replaced Rayner at the Nursery End and he had Davies caught at the wicket for ten with his opening delivery. Jason Roy and Zander de Bruyn took the score to 26-2 after five overs before Gareth Berg came on at the Pavilion End and trapped de Bruyn LBW for six with his opening delivery. Tom Smith then came on and he also took a wicket with his first delivery when he took a return catch to dismiss Roy for eight to reduce Surrey to 32-4. Gary Wilson joined Spriegel at the wicket but the rain arrived and thre was a 20 minute delay but only one further over was bowled before rain intervened again. Play restarted after a further twelve minute delay. Surrey had reached only 91-4 with five overs remaining.

  
  However, 58 runs were scored by Spriegel and Wilson off the last 5 overs so Surrey's total was a respectable 149-4. Wilson was 54 not out off 40 balls (2 sixes & 3 fours) with Spriegel 53 not out off 46 balls (2 sixes & 2 fours). Steven Crook had figures of 1-31, Toby Roland-Jones 1-27, Gareth Berg 1-34 and Tom Smith 1-29, all from four overs: Ollie Rayner had figures of 0-14 from three overs with Paul Stirling conceding 8 runs from his solitary over.
  
  Denly was out to the first ball in the 2nd over to Meaker's caught at deep square-leg by Spriegel for two. Paul Stirling joined Dawid Malan and the pair took Middlesex to 60-1 wellahead of the Duckworth/Lewis at the end of the powerplay.  Gareth Batty came on at the Pavilion End and he struck with his fifth delivery when he trapped Malan LBW for 26 (off 23 balls). Neil Dexter joined Stirling and after two singles came off the next over from Ansari, Batty struck twice in successive balls. Paul Stirling was bowled for 36 (off 23 balls) and Gareth Berg was bowled for a first ball duck to reduce Middlesex to 67-4 in the 10th over, now behind the D/L par score.
  
  Batty struck again in his third over when Chris Rogers was well caught by Meaker at long-on for four.Dexter was then  LBW Ansari for eleven. With the game slipping away from Middlesex on 83-6 after 13 overs, Rory Hamilton-Brown brought himself on at the Pavilion End and he had John Simpson caught at deep mid-wicket by Jason Roy & Steven Crook hit the first ball he faced to short mid-off where Roy took the catch to reduce the Panthers to 86-8. Ollie Rayner and Toby Roland-Jones took Middlesex to 99-8 after sixteen overs at which point the rain intensified and the umpires brought the players off the ground. No further play was possible and Surrey won the match by 28 runs under Duckworth/Lewis regulations.