After a truly sensational five wicket victory up in Durham yesterday, where Middlesex set a new record for the highest ever successful run chase in domestic List-A cricket, hitting 390 for 5 in reply to Durham's 387 for 4, the side will head straight back into action tomorrow, with a trip to Rugby School to face Warwickshire, for the second of two consecutive away fixtures in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
Yesterday's win will of course have the side buzzing after such a performance, and confidence will be high ahead of this one, however the side will need to reset, refocus and do all the things right that they did so well against Durham, as we look to make it three wins on the bounce against a tough Warwickshire outfit who have won two of their opening three clashes in the fifty-over competition.
Yesterday's win for Middlesex saw them equal Warwickshire's start to the competition, with both sides locked together in joint second place, alongside both Durham and Somerset, all on eight points, although Durham have played four games - one more than the other three sides around them. Yorkshire, with a perfect record of three wins from three sit at the top, with 12 points safely locked in already!
Middlesex Interim Men's First Team Coach, Dane Vilas, has named an unchanged squad of fourteen for tomorrow's encounter in the midlands against the Bears, and he'll be looking for more of the same from his players ahead of what is another crucial game in the campaign.
A win tomorrow could put us joint top of the group, if Yorkshire fail to beat Somerset in their match today, so there's a huge amount riding on the outcome of tomorrow's match, especially with two home games to come for Middlesex against Yorkshire and Kent on Sunday and next Tuesday at Radlett.
Against Durham yesterday, on a sun scorched playing surface with a lightning quick outfield, it was not a good time to be a bowler, as bat dominated ball for the vast majority of the day! In the context of the game that played out, huge respect has to go to Toby Roland-Jones for returning superb figures of 10-0-43-1, whilst all other bowlers on both sides were put to the sword and sent to and over the fence with some regularity!
Whilst Roland-Jones' figures proved crucial, and had a massive impact on the game, the spotlight was clearly stolen by Sam Robson, who hit Middlesex's second highest ever individual List-A innings, 169*, to see his side to victory - staggeringly with 12 balls of the innings to spare.
When you weigh up the scoreboard pressure and the fact that Middlesex needed to score at almost eight an over throughout the entire innings to even get close, Robson's knock was quite incredible really - full of calm, full of composure, full of aggression when needed, and beautifully timed. The result was only possible however with the selfless support of those around him, and special knocks from Josh De Caires (63 off 48 balls), Jack Davies (61 off 42) and Luke Hollman (47 off 30) helped Robson along, as the youngsters went on the attack to stay ahead of the rate whilst Robson played the key anchor role around them. It was a model performance of how to execute the perfect run chase and is hopefully a sign of quite how good this Middlesex side can be when it all comes together!
Much like Middlesex, tomorrow's opponents Warwickshire kicked off their campaign with defeat in their opener, when they were undone by Yorkshire by five wickets in Scarborough.
That game against Yorkshire saw young Middlesex County Age Group player and product of Richmond Cricket Club's youth system, Vansh Jani, make his List-A debut, having been signed by Warwickshire out of the South Asian Cricket Academy programme, and he shone on his debut despite the loss, top-scoring for the Bears with a knock of 82 in a Warwickshire total of just 137.
Warwickshire bounced back from their opening day defeat to then secure wins against Northamptonshire by 62 runs and against Kent by 79 runs. Against Northamptonshire a run-a-ball knock of 123 from Alex Davies helped the Bears post 291 in their 50 overs, before figures of 5 for 43 from Tazeem Ali helped roll Northants for 229. Against Kent, half centuries from Ed Barnard (60 off 68) and Kai Smith (58 off 57) saw Warwickshire post a total of 283 for 9 in their 50 overs before they bowled Kent out for just 204, with Tazeem Ali again doing the damage, with figures of 5 for 54.
The last time that Middlesex and Warwickshire met in the List-A format of the game was back in 2022, and it was Middlesex who came out on top in a match played on home soil for Middlesex at Radlett Cricket Club, as the Seaxes secured a comprehensive win by 128 runs.
Batting first, Middlesex posted 374 for 3 in the allotted 50 overs, with hundreds from both Sam Robson (111) and Stephen Eskinazi (102), before Luke Hollman stole the show with the ball, taking 4 for 34 to help dismiss the Bears for just 246.
We'll be hoping for more of what we saw on Wednesday from Middlesex tomorrow, and a repeat of the last match-up between the two sides would be just the tonic we need ahead of those two home games at Radlett, although former Middlesex County Age Group youngster Jani and former Middlesex seamer Ethan Bamber will have other ideas no doubt!
If you are not travelling to Rugby School to watch the game in person, the match will be available to watch for free via the Middlesex Cricket website on the live stream provided by our hosts tomorrow.
MIDDLESEX SQUAD OF 14 FOR ONE-DAY CUP CLASH AGAINST WARWICKSHIRE TOMORROW:
Warwickshire Men
Middlesex Men
