Lancashire win tense match against Middlesex at Blackpool

Lancashire edged a tense 50-over match against Middlesex at Blackpool by a margin of just two wickets with as many overs to spare as they achieved their first win of the Royal London One-Day Cup campaign.

The home side chased their target of 162 with only 12 balls in hand after Middlesex were bowled out for 161 inside 47 overs. James Faulkner and Jordan Clark added 47 runs for the seventh-wicket stand, a vital partnership after Lancashire had suffered a similar collapse to their opponents.

Middlesex made a good start after being put into bat on a covered wicket, but the swinging conditions soon had the visitors in trouble. Tom Bailey claimed the first of three wickets in a six-over spell when he had Dawid Malan caught behind for 14.

The left-handed opener was unable to pull away from a delivery which rose sharply at the last minute, providing Alex Davies with a routine catch behind the stumps. Bailey (3-31) nearly had Nick Compton back in the pavilion in identical fashion in the same over, but he survived a confident appeal from Bailey and the rest of the Lancashire fielders.

He soon had his second wicket, although it was Sam Robson (14) who was the next wicket to fall when he got an inside-edge onto his stumps, leaving Middlesex in the midst of an early mishap at 28/2. Bailey then had his third scalp when the former England batsman, Nick Compton, tried to pull to the leg side, only to sky the ball to Jordan Clark as he fell for six.

Bailey’s then figures of 3-23 made impressive reading and at 36/3, Lancashire had more than vindicated their decision to bowl first, but the wicket of Eoin Morgan remained a prized scalp for the Red Rose. The home side had this important breakthrough when James Faulkner (2-27) encouraged an edge through to Davies, as the England one-day captain departed for 17.

Middlesex then lost their second wicket for the addition of just one run when Nick Gubbins guided a delivery from Jordan Clark (1-28) into the hands of Paul Horton at first slip, a wicket which left Middlesex in real trouble at 68/5. Their position didn’t get any better for some time and was in fact made slightly worse when James Franklin (12) skied a delivery from Faulkner to Clark.

It had been a peculiar knock from Franklin who faced 46 deliveries, hitting only one boundary in that time, but the Middlesex tail rallied to add what proved to be vital runs to the total. The visitors suffered another blow at 83/7 when Gavin Griffiths (1-27) claimed his first wicket for Lancashire, playing in his third List A game for the county, when he had Ollie Rayner (3) caught behind in the 28^th over of the innings.

John Simpson (20) and James Harris, who top-scored for the visitors with 32,  started the recovery with a partnership worth 28 runs for the seventh-wicket before Steven Croft (1-7) struck a breakthrough with his third ball of the match to trap Simpson lbw at 111/8.

But the vital partnership for Middlesex was the eighth wicket stand which added exactly 50 runs to the total as Harris and Toby Roland-Jones made the most of easing conditions. Harris hit just one boundary in his patient innings, while Roland-Jones took the more aggressive route, advancing down the track to Stephen Parry for six.

The tail-ender hit successive fours off Parry to continue his assault, but the left-arm spinner had his revenge soon enough when Roland-Jones picked out Griffiths at deep mid-wicket, scoring 29 off 34 balls to give Middlesex a much-needed boost. Having spent a great deal of time searching for a breakthrough, Lancashire then had Harris out the very next ball when he skied the ball to Ashwell Prince, as Parry collected figures of 2-34.

Lancashire were only able to set Essex a target of 162 in their last 50-over game, but this time it was the Lightning who were set a seemingly straightforward target, although this wasn’t always the case. A difficult start certainly demonstrated that Middlesex were far from out of the game, as Prince (1) guided a delivery from Junaid Khan to Compton at cover.

The home side were forced to make steady progress after the early loss of their South-African batsman, but countryman Alviro Petersen steadied the innings alongside Karl Brown to relieve some of the pressure, that is until Petersen played a ball from Harris to Morgan at mid-off with the score at 49/2.

Three boundaries in succession from Brown in the eighth over, followed by a no-ball which went for four byes, gave Lancashire a respectable start despite the loss of their Port-Elizabeth duo. Khan, who has represented Lancashire in Twenty20 cricket for two seasons, made an important breakthrough when he had Brown caught by Rayner after the Lancashire batsman had hit his seventh four.

The wickets continued to tumble and Blackpool-born Croft (3) was the next to depart when Franklin struck in his first over to have the Lancashire captain caught behind at 63/4. Franklin unearthed another important wicket when he had Horton (18) caught by Rayner at first slip, leaving Lancashire in a potentially uncomfortable position at 92/5.

Lancashire added only one more run before an unfavourable position was made even worse when Alex Davies was judged caught behind off Roland-Jones, the 27-year-old’s first breakthrough of the innings. The home side were in desperate need of a strong partnership after the loss five wickets for 44 runs, but Faulkner and Clark held their nerve to guide Lancashire home with two overs to spare.

Their patience took Lancashire to within 22 runs of the target, but Junaid continued to have an impressive day, claiming the wicket of Faulkner with the final ball of his ten-over allocation when he gloved to Rayner at first slip with the score at 140/7.

Middlesex were running out of seam options but they made another breakthrough when Harris had Clark caught behind for 29 playing one too many expansive drives, a wicket which left the match in a precarious situation for both sides. Lancashire needed 15 runs when Clark returned to the pavilion, but Parry and Bailey were able to see the home side to their target of 162, with Parry hitting a boundary to secure Lancashire's first win of the campaign.