Middlesex 231 (Higgins 100, Duke 55, Holland 5-36) beat Leicestershire 200 (Kelly 105, Roland-Jones 3-27, Helm 3-32, Sharma 3-37) by 31 runs
Ryan Higgins made an outstanding maiden Listing 100 from 115 balls with Harry Duke (55) backing him up as their 135-run sixth-wicket partnership steered Middlesex from 71 for 5 to 231 all out after Foxes all-rounder Ian Holland took 5 for 36 and wicketkeeper Ben Cox held 5 catches. Higgins and Duke have been making their first appearances for Middlesex on this 12 months’s competitors.
Towards a background of turmoil off the sphere, the win is a primary for Middlesex in a Listing A closing since they beat Derbyshire to raise the 1990 Refuge Assurance Cup.
Leicestershire, nonetheless reeling from the factors deduction within the Rothesay County Championship that makes relegation nearly sure, had hoped to ease the ache successful a second Metro Financial institution trophy within the house of 4 seasons nevertheless it was to not be.
Put in, Middlesex have been 32 for 3 within the eleventh over and 5 down within the twenty second – all snared by the stainless Cox.
Nathan Fernandes slashed at one from Holland, who dismissed Max Holden in related trend. Tom Scriven discovered a skinny edge to take away skipper Ben Geddes for a duck.
However Duke – on mortgage from Yorkshire as cowl for the injured Joe Cracknell – supplied the help Higgins wanted earlier than a top-edge to additional cowl introduced his undoing, Helm was leg earlier than to Rehan and Higgins perished one ball after going to his maiden Listing 100, failing to clear long-on, on the lookout for a tenth boundary.
The Leicestershire innings nearly precisely mirrored that of Middlesex as they slipped to 32 for 3 and 79 for 5.
Sharma dismissed Foxes captain and former Middlesex batter Stephen Eskinazi caught at second slip and Hamza Shaikh leg earlier than, veteran Roland-Jones having Rishi Patel caught at deep sq. leg.
Roland-Jones claimed two extra victims in Ahmed, leg earlier than, and Cox, caught behind.
Leicestershire discovered themselves needing somebody to step up as Higgins had and Kelly answered the decision. Permitting few scoring alternatives to go him by, he reached 50 from 52 balls with six fours and a pick-up for six off Sharma as he and Holland added 50 for the sixth wicket.
Ben Inexperienced’s departure added extra strain, with 57 nonetheless wanted. Kelly, who twice hammered Zafar down the bottom for extra sixes, saved the Foxes within the hunt, reaching 100 from 103 balls.
However, after needing remedy for cramp, he pulled Helm straight to deep sq.. Ajaz Patel fell to a surprising catch at backward level by Zafar off Helm, earlier than Scriven was the final man to go, caught at mid-off.