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MIDDLESEX V DERBYSHIRE | MATCH REPORT

Match report provided by the ECB reporters network supported by Rothesay

DAY FOUR

Brooke Guest’s unbeaten half-century steered Derbyshire to safety against Middlesex and kept their promotion hopes alive ahead of next week’s vital Rothesay County Championship meeting with Glamorgan.

Guest finished on 65 at Lord’s, having added 66 with Martin Andersson (31 not out) after third-placed Derbyshire had slumped to 87 for four in their second innings, an advantage of just 72 over their hosts.

An afternoon downpour brought the contest to a premature close and left Derbyshire 27 points adrift of second-placed Glamorgan, who they host in the penultimate round of Division Two fixtures.

Middlesex, a further three points behind Derbyshire, still retain a slim chance of promotion following the draw, which was also enough to confirm Leicestershire’s elevation to the top flight after 22 years.

The home side’s hopes of forcing a victory were boosted after the opening four overs of the day, in which they captured two wickets to leave Derbyshire three down with a slender lead of 31.

Luis Reece added just five to his overnight 17 before he was given out lbw to a Ryan Higgins delivery that zoomed some way back down the slope and Wayne Madsen soon followed in similar fashion to Toby Roland-Jones.

Guest rode his luck at the start of his innings, with two inside edges off Higgins (two for 49) that zipped just past the stumps and rolled to the rope, as well as surviving a persuasive lbw appeal by Olly Stone to a ball that kept low.

The England paceman, in the first of a two-match loan from Nottinghamshire, was unlucky not to gain greater reward for an impressive pre-lunch spell, although he did remove Harry Came with a beauty that cannoned in to send middle stump flying.

Having given away just six runs in his first eight overs, Stone conceded the same from one short-pitched delivery after the interval as Andersson pulled him into the Mound Stand to stretch Derbyshire’s lead to three figures.

A brief rain stoppage with Guest on 47 could not derail the Derbyshire wicketkeeper, who punched Stone through the covers for four to complete a fifth half-century of the campaign soon after play resumed.

Although Guest got away with a mistimed pull off Higgins that looped up and fell to safety, his work was already done and the dark clouds menacing the ground duly unloaded an hour into the afternoon session to confirm a stalemate.

DAY THREE

Caleb Jewell reached 1000 County Championship runs for the season on a rain-ravaged third day of Derbyshire’s clash with hosts Middlesex at Lord’s.

Only 10 overs were possible, but it proved sufficient time for the Tasmanian left-hander to reach the landmark with a glance tickled to the fine leg fence. The 28-year-old, who reached his 1000 in what was his 22^nd innings for the county, also became the only wicket to fall, as Derbyshire closed on 33-1, bowled by a beauty from Ryan Higgins which flattened the off stump. The further frustration for Jewell was he hadn’t reached the pavilion steps before the second rain interruption of the morning drove the players off for an early lunch.

Only three more overs were bowled, during which Luis Reece survived two huge lbw shouts from Toby Roland-Jones before rain prevented any further play.

Both sides are desperate for a win to keep any pressure on second placed Glamorgan in the Division Two promotion race, but it will take creative collaboration between the respective captains to contrive a positive result on the final day.

DAY TWO

Leus Du Plooy haunted his former county Derbyshire as his second hundred of the season led Middlesex to a slender first-innings lead on day two at Lord’s.

The Middlesex skipper, who spent five years with Derbyshire prior to joining the Seaxes produced a stoic four-and-a-half hour effort with only eight boundaries as the hosts reached 298 all out.

Josh De Caires (46) and Joe Cracknell (43) provided the main support, the latter sharing a stand of 80 for the sixth wicket with Du Plooy.

Ben Aitchison bowled beautifully for his 3-35, while Zak Chappell also claimed three victims, before openers Luis Reece and Caleb Jewell saw Derbyshire through to stumps at 17 without loss – a lead of two heading into day three.

Aitchison’s probing opening burst provided a stern examination of the Middlesex openers and it was a test Sam Robson did not survive, this season’s beneficiary trapped lbw by one which beat the outside edge.

De Caires and Luke Hollman somehow negotiated the rest of the seamer’s stump-to-stump spell, but in his endeavours to increase the tempo against some looser offerings from first change Chappell, the latter wafted lazily at a wide one to be caught at slip.

De Caires picked up where he’d left off in his 175 against Durham for the second XI at Hartlepool last week, driving sweetly through mid-on and cracking a wide one from Chappell to the fence at point. However, four short of 50 and with lunch beckoning he was adjudged to have tickled one through to wicketkeeper Brooke Guest. His disappointment, whether at himself or the decision was palpable.

It was left to Du Plooy to provide the innings of substance required. The South African-born left-hander got underway with a tickle for four to fine leg, but this was a studious rather than flamboyant knock, a later square drive another of the six fours in his first 50 reached in 80 balls.

His second 50 was even more phlegmatic, nudges into the gaps marking his progress with only one further boundary until he reached the 90s. There was as scare on 91 as the 30-year-old crumpled to the floor after inside-edging a ball from Aitchison, the problem seemingly with his knee.

He was able to continue after treatment, albeit hobbling, and a square drive and a punch through midwicket took him to a deserved hundred.

Others batted around the skipper, Ryan Higgins threatening a big score before a flash at a wide one from Chappell cut his effort short on 31 and Ben Geddes didn’t stay long before becoming the seamer’s third victim, lbw to a ball which looked to be swinging past leg stump.

Cracknell was the man to help in the one partnership of note, the wicketkeeper/batter riding his luck early on before unfurling some trademark aggressive shots, the pick a pull off Haydon which sailed into the Mound Stand. Haydon’s revenge was swift however, a ball stopping a little in the pitch before climbing to take the edge of the bat and flying to backward point.

Du Plooy, now struggling physically, fell lbw to Luis Reece soon after the first innings lead was secured, after which the tail crumbled leaving the hosts two runs short of what could have been a precious second batting point.

DAY ONE

Toby Roland-Jones led Middlesex’s fightback with his best Rothesay County Championship bowling figures of the season after promotion rivals Derbyshire had threatened to dominate with the bat on the opening day at Lord’s.

Caleb Jewell and Harry Came both hit half-centuries as they forged a century partnership to give the visitors a strong platform at 124 for one before Roland-Jones struck back with four wickets in the space of 27 balls.

The former Middlesex captain eventually finished with six for 77, while Ryan Higgins and Zafar Gohar shared the other four wickets evenly as Derbyshire, who began the day with a 24-point gap to second-placed Glamorgan, were bowled out for 283.

In reply, Middlesex openers Sam Robson and Josh de Caires trimmed that deficit slightly prior to stumps, reaching 12 without loss.

The Seaxes’ pace attack included two red-ball debutants in the shape of Olly Stone, signed on a short-term loan from Nottinghamshire, and 18-year-old Sebastian Morgan – yet there were slim pickings for either when the visitors won the toss and chose to bat on a benign surface.

Higgins achieved the solitary breakthrough of the morning session, pinning Luis Reece in front of his stumps with a ball that nipped back down the slope, but Jewell and Came batted through to lunch largely untroubled.

The Australian was quick to punish anything loose outside off stump, dispatching an early short ball from Roland-Jones to the cover fence before handing the same treatment to a Stone half-volley.

Came settled in following an uncertain start, when Stone beat his outside edge a couple of times and began to take advantage of the short boundary on one side, keeping pace with his partner.

It was Jewell who reached his half-century first, nudging a single from the opening ball of the afternoon session, while Came’s arrival at that landmark was more eye-catching as he pulled Stone into the Mound Stand for six.

The pair extended their partnership to 105 before it was eventually broken by Higgins, returning for a second stint from the Nursery End and knocking back the left-hander’s off stump for 56.

Derbyshire skipper Wayne Madsen, marking his 500th overall appearance in the county’s colours, was soon up and running with two quick fours off Higgins, but his side’s momentum was stemmed by a destructive spell from Roland-Jones.

Came was first to go, caught behind off an inside edge for 64 and Brooke Guest was castled having misjudged the line before Roland-Jones got another delivery to rear back and trap former Middlesex man Martin Andersson leg before.

Roland-Jones claimed the prize wicket of Madsen in identical fashion to leave Derbyshire apparently wilting at 177 for six, only for Anuj Dal and Zak Chappell to mount a recovery with their stand of 48.

Dal eventually departed on the stroke of tea, succumbing to a thin edge off Gohar and the spinner also picked up the wicket of Chappell, but Ben Aitchison’s watchful 36 secured his side a batting bonus point.

However, Roland-Jones wrapped up the innings by having both Aitchison and Jack Morley caught behind with the new ball and Middlesex successfully negotiated the day’s remaining seven overs without alarm.