Middlesex close in on a victory against Kent: County Championship Division Two
Middlesex were in a very good position to win a match of the County Championship Division Two against Kent, at the Lord’s, London in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, on Monday, June 20, 2011.
The hosts need just 47 runs for victory and have nine more wickets in hand. They also have two complete days of play left, so the weather will not be a problem for them. Kent gave a target of 167 runs to the opposition, but were unable to cause problems
for the Middlesex batsmen, as they reached 120 runs for the loss of one wicket until close of second day’s play.
The conditions were not ideal for the batsmen at all at the Lord’s cricket ground, as 23 wickets tumbled on the first day. The ball was moving in the air and off the seam, which made life extremely difficult for the batsmen. Kent were unfortunate to lose
the toss, as they were put into bat by the home team’s skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Neil-Dexter-c2091.
Things started off badly for the visitors, as their top-order batsmen failed to cope with the seaming conditions. Kent lost six wickets for just 22 runs on the board and were threatened to be all-out below 50.
However, Azhar Mahmood’s knock of 32 runs from 41 deliveries guided the team’s total to 87 in the end. There were only three other batsmen to reach double figures in the innings with 12 being the highest from them.
Middlesex’s bowler, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tim-Murtagh-c2673, made most of the bowling friendly conditions, taking five wickets for his side.
The home team would have liked to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Middlesex-c817 innings came off
the bat of opening batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sam-Robson-c2421, who scored 40.
Mahmood was once again in action, this time with the ball, claiming a six-wicket haul.
Kent continued to struggle in the match, as their batsmen were unable to make an impression. Opening batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JL-Denly-c1703 played well at the top of the order, scoring 30 runs, but failed to capitalise.
However, Mahmood continued to impress with his all-round abilities, scoring an unbeaten 50 in the second innings for his side. His effort guided the team to 232 in the end.
Murtagh was yet again devastating, picking up four wickets, increasing his tally to nine in the match.
A target of 167 appeared to be challenging, but the hosts didn’t find any problems when they came out to bat. They reached 120/1 at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scott-Newman-c2467 was the only wicket to fall in the innings. He scored a well made 45.
Denly was the lone wicket-taker in the innings, for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kent-c802.
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