Second XI Trophy
Venue: Southgate CC
Match Result - Middlesex won by 2 wickets
Middlesex 2nd XI win their 3rd successive Second XI Trophy game of the season, beating Gloucestershire by 2 wickets after a hard fought match.
Gloucestershire won the toss and chose to bat on a bright morning in Southgate, and positive batting from the outset from Hankins, who faced the majority of the deliveries in the opening overs, put Gloucestershire on the front foot. The visitors had lost both openers by the 23rd over, but not before Hankins had managed to reach his half century and go on to 66 from just 73 deliveries.
However, the hosts bit back just after the half way point, and were able to slow down the Gloucestershire batting with 2 wickets from Ethan Bamber.
It was with only 12 overs to go that Middlesex were able to firmly take the front foot, with spinners Nathan Sowter & Ravi Patel taking 3 wickets between them for just 16 runs. This limited Gloucestershire to a total of 221/9 by the end of their innings.
The pick of the bowlers was Nathan Sowter, taking 4-38. Ravi Patel and Ethan Bamber also struck twice each, with Tom Barber taking one as well.
Gloucestershire made a good start with the ball, and were able to dismiss Tom Lace, Max Holden and Robbie White within the first 11 overs. This left Middlesex in need of rebuilding at 35/3.
George Scott was able to take back control of the game with a timely innings, and scored 80 runs before he finally fell to Drissell LBW.
He and James Fuller were the stand out batsmen for Middlesex on the day, and the latter attacked the Gloucestershire bowling from the outset, and a confident 63 at a run a ball from him ensured Middlesex were well ahead of the required run rate before he fell at 187/7 after 37.4 overs.
Thilan Walallawita, Ravi Patel and Tom Barber were able to chase down the remaining 34 runs between them with 4.4 overs to spare, with Ravi hitting a couple of sixes in that time to ensure Middlesex reached their target.
