Middlesex head into Vitality Blast action again tomorrow evening, when we head to Merchant Taylors' School, for the first of two clashes on home soil this week, both being played in Northwood on Wednesday and Friday evening.
First up, tomorrow, we take on Hampshire Hawks, who come to Merchant Taylors' looking to bounce back from a defeat in their last encounter, when they were undone by runaway South Group leaders Somerset, by four wickets down in Southampton.
Middlesex, likewise, head into the game looking to bounce back from a loss, after we were undone on Sunday by Gloucestershire, who ran out winners in a high-scoring affair that for large parts of our run-chase looked like we were in contention, before the loss of regular wickets slowed things down in the business end of the chase.
For tomorrow's encounter, we have named a squad of 13 to face Hampshire, with both Josh Little (away with Ireland) and Josh De Caires (playing in the current second eleven game) stepping out, and bowling all-rounder Sebastian Morgan coming into the squad.
With five games remaining, and the South Group starting to take shape, Middlesex are realistically in the position of needing to win at least four, if not all five of our remaining fixtures, to give us a chance of progressing out of the group stages and into the knockouts.
Our points tally of 12, from nine games played, sees us sat eighth of nine in the South Group, and with Somerset strolling off into the sunset, on 32 points, they look nailed on to qualify as group winners at this stage of proceedings.
Surrey and Glamorgan trail them by eight points, both on 24, in second and third spots respectively, with Sussex two points further back on 22, currently sat in fourth spot in the group, and occupying the last of the quarter-final qualification spots as it stands.
With Hampshire, Kent, and Gloucestershire sandwiched between Sussex and Middlesex, with the gap from us in eighth to Sussex in fourth currently standing at ten points, Middlesex will need to go on a real hot streak to end the group stages, realistically targeting no fewer than 16 more points from here on in to stand a chance of qualifying.
Even then, looking at the fixtures to come in the group, with plenty of the sides above us playing each other in the closing stages of the group games, results will have to fall favourably elsewhere to see us get into the later stages of the competition! With the equation pointing towards tomorrow's game being a real must win affair, if nothing else, it focusses the attention on the job at hand!
Tomorrow's opponents Hampshire have had an up and down campaign this term, by their own high T20 standards, winning four of their ten games, tying one, and losing the other five, which still puts them in contention for progression themselves if they can get a run going in their final four games.
They've been heavily reliant on runs from the ever dependable James Vince, who has once again led from the front this term and leads their run-scoring charts by some margin, with 309 runs already chalked up, putting him ninth in the overall list of run-scorers list in both divisions of the Blast to this point of the competition! Toby Albert follows him, with 254 runs, then Joe Weatherley with 207.
With the ball, the load has been more spread out, with Scott Currie leading the way with fifteen wickets already this term, the experienced pairing of Benny Howell and Chris Wood follow him, with eleven wickets apiece, with the spin of Liam Dawson picking up nine wickets.
With two home games on the bounce, at a ground that has proven more favourable in result terms that others, Middlesex will be hoping that home advantage at Merchant Taylors' will give them the edge tomorrow, as we look to kickstart a blistering end to this year's Blast group campaign.
The Middlesex squad for tomorrow's clash is as follows:
If you're not heading to Merchant Taylors' School tomorrow evening to watch the action in person, make sure you tune into our live stream of the game, which will be available to watch on the Club's website in the Match Centre, or direct on the Club's YouTube channel.
Here's to a Middlesex win tomorrow!
Middlesex Men
Hampshire Hawks Men
