Middlesex vs Durham – County Championship Division 1 – Match Recap
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harold-William-Stephenson-c61707 Finn’s four-wicket haul helped Middlesex to claim a thrilling draw against Durham on the final day of the County Championship Division One Match, played at Lord’s, London.
With the away team needing a revised 122 from 16 overs, after being set a much favourable 130 off 45 overs before rain intervened for the umpteenth time, Finn initial burst almost propelled his side to clinch an improbable victory before Durham ensured that
they avoided a batting collapse of the kind, endured by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Surrey-c851 at the same venue last week, and ended the game with a share of the spoils – finishing at 82 for 6.
It was Finn’s pace, which came to his team’s rescue after another disappointing batting display from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964, to
return to form, managing just 6 in his two innings.
While his batting slump may been seen as a big concern for the selectors, they will be delighted with the bowling performance of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Onions-c1449, who ended the match with an impressive 10-wicket haul – including getting Strauss twice. His bowling prowess had
put http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Durham-c782 in the driving seat but their failure to make that ascendency count eventually cost them the match. They managed 238 in the first innings, a lead of 50, and were on course for their first win of this season before rain, and Finn’s timely burst,
halted their dominancy.
The final morning began with the hosts resuming on 21 for 1, but their top-order woes continued as they were restricted to 91 for 8 after Onion earned his 10th victim of the match. However, Middlesex found hope through wicket-keeper batsman, John
Simpson (47), and no.10, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tim-Murtagh-c2673 (45), as the two added a match-saving 82 for the ninth wicket.
Both departed in quick but their stand ensured that their bowlers had something to bowl at, albeit Durham held ascendency. However, rain again intervened much to the frustration of the away team, and the resumption saw Finn turning on the style with three
quick wickets – halting them at 3 for 31.
Two more followed, one each for Murtagh and Toby-Roland http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ian-Blackwell-c1569. By then, the game had slipped away and the visitors only managed 10 more runs, to reach to 82, before play ended for good.
On his competition with Onions, Finn said, “"It is great to have that competition, too. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Graham-c60529 was the best bowler in the match by a long way, he bowled beautifully.
"He and I are in a similar position, on the fringes of the Test team. We are all fighting for the same spots but no one grudges anyone else doing well and I have huge respect for Graham, he is an awesome bowler."
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