D40 Div One National
Venue: William Perkins School, Greenford
After a promising re-season run out last week, when the D40 First Eleven defeated hosts Chiswick CC, they went into their league season opener in good spirits, as they played hosts to Wales Disability on Sunday at William Perkins School.
Middlesex won the toss and elected to put the visitors into bat, who got off to an impressive start, hitting 40 off the first 5 overs without loss.
A bowling change brought Middlesex immediate reward, as wickets in the sixth and seventh overs pegged back the Welsh to 41 for 2.
A thirty run 3rd wicket partnership saw Wales steady the ship, however a wicket in the sixteenth over saw Middlesex break the partnership to leave the visitors on 72-3.
Three overs went by with Wales adding another 8 runs to their total until the 19th over of the game, when the bowling of Jones and Kumar gained full control for Middlesex and turned the game in Middlesex's favour.
A Jones hattrick in his 2nd over ripped out the middle order and left Wales in trouble on 83-6, which he followed up with a fourth wickets in his fourth over. At the other end, Kumar was equally as impressive, taking three quick wickets to finish the innings off after only 23.5 overs completed. Wales were all out for 97.
Jones and Kumar were the pick of the bowlers, with Jones finishing with figures of 4 for 4 from 4 overs, and Kumar with 3 for 11 off 2.5 overs.
In reply, Middlesex got off to a flying start with the opening pair of Stoner-Lewis and Valjee putting everything loose away. Stoner-Lewis fell in the eighth over, well caught for a fine 30, with the score on 67 for 1, however it was merely a small bump in the road, as Valijee (28 not out) and Nordin (19 not out) saw Middlesex home, surpassing their victory target in just the twelfth over, one wicket down.
A positive start for all at Middlesex and we look forward to our next game. The players and the coaching staff would like to take this opportunity to thank William Perkin School for preparing a fantastic wicket, Wales Disability squad for the game, and both Knight Frank & ARC for their support for the Disability county programme.
