After an emphatic win yesterday evening at Merchant Taylors' School, where Middlesex defeated Gloucestershire by 23 runs, the side head down to Canterbury tomorrow afternoon high in spirits, for another crucial, must-win Vitality Blast encounter.
The Men's match will take place at 4pm, shortly after Middlesex Women take on Kent Women at 11am, in the first of two matches in a double-header of Sunday Vitality Blast action.
We have named a squad of 14 for tomorrow's clash, with Irish international left-arm quick, Josh Little, returning to the squad, having missed out on this week's two clashes in Northwood due to playing commitments in Ireland. Little replaces Naavya Sharma in the squad of 14 and will be keen to make an impact on his return to the Middlesex ranks.
It gives Middlesex Interim First Team Coach, Dane Vilas, some selection headaches, after his seam attack closed the game out so well yesterday against Gloucestershire, with young duo Noah Cornwell and Sebastian Morgan standing out from the pack.
Morgan, who was making his debut in professional cricket, having only signed his first contract at the end of last year at the age of seventeen, was superb, and his 2 for 34 from his allotted 4 overs, with two of the overs bowled in the powerplay and in the death overs, were an impressive way for him to make his entrance onto the professional cricket stage.
Cornwell, showed plenty of courage, spirit and determination to bounce back from events on Wednesday evening against Hampshire Hawks to turn in the performance of the night with the ball, as his impressive figures of 1 for 20 from his four overs, again with two of them bowled in the powerplay overs, were testament to his strength of character. The youngster's performance at Merchant Taylor's last night was one of real maturity.
With the bat, half centuries from Kane Williamson and skipper Leus du Plooy were the foundation on which Middlesex built their innings, as our total of 189 for 5 gave the bowlers a total to defend - which they did admirably, stifling the Gloucestershire chase in the middle to death overs to close the game out brilliantly.
Middlesex went into last night's game knowing that nothing less than a win was needed to keep our hopes of qualification alive, and it was another performance that will give the side plenty of confidence ahead of the final three South Group matches, which all need to be won to give us any chance of progressing to the knockout stages of the competition.
The team's performance was packed with energy, intensity and quality - all the qualities that Vilas and new T20 skipper Leus du Plooy are calling for from the side in the Blast.
We go again tomorrow, down in Canterbury, looking for more of the same, and another win at the Spitfire Ground will be just the tonic the side need ahead of what could be a crucial London derby against Surrey next Wednesday at Lord's, which will be played out in front of by far the biggest Blast crowd we've seen at Lord's this season.
Yesterday's win against Gloucestershire took us ahead of them in the table, and a win tomorrow, and favourable results elsewhere, will see us close the gap on the sides currently sitting in the knockout qualification spots.
Kent Spitfires are one of those sides just above us, and their record at home, combined with all the positives to take from last night's win, will give Middlesex even more confidence that they can go to Canterbury and get the job done. Kent have won just one of their five home games this term, against Hampshire in early June, however have lost out to Surrey, Gloucestershire, Sussex and Somerset, who have all left the Spitfire ground with wins under their belts.
Middlesex will have to keep Tawanda Muyeye and Daniel Bell-Drummond quiet tomorrow and target their early wickets, as the pair of them have been in exceptional form thus far in the competition. Muyeye's run tally of 377 runs puts him sixth in the list of overall run scorers in the Blast to date across both divisions, whilst Bell Drummond's 344 runs put him in eleventh place. They've been well supported by Joe Denly, with 238 runs, although aside of those three, runs have been hard to come by for the rest of the Kent line-up. The wickets of these three will therefore be crucial for Middlesex tomorrow if we are to restrict our hosts with the bat.
With the ball, Nathan Gilchrist leads the way for the Spitfires, with 13 wickets, with Tom Rogers 12 and Matt Parkinson's 11 backing him up.
With Middlesex targeting another victory and going into the game with renewed confidence after yesterday's victory, and Kent heading into the game off the back of another home loss to Somerset, Middlesex have a great chance to secure their first back-to-back win of the campaign and keep those hopes of qualification alive. It promises to be a real thriller down at the Spitfire Ground.
The Middlesex fourteen-man squad for tomorrow's clash is as follows:
If you're not heading to Canterbury tomorrow to watch the game in person, then you'll be able to watch the game on Kent's live stream, which will be available in the Match Centre on our website.
Here's to a Middlesex win tomorrow to keep the hopes alive!
Kent Spitfires
Middlesex Men
