Middlesex v Essex Eagles
Vitality Blast
Lord’s
Thursday 24 June
6:15pm start
Essex Eagles head to Lord’s for their next fixture in the Vitality Blast where they meet Middlesex on Thursday evening with the match scheduled to get underway at 6:15pm.
It is an important 48 hours for the Eagles who also have a home clash with Kent Spitfires on Friday night as they seek back-to-back successes that could galvanise their T20 campaign.
They recorded their second win in the competition on Monday night when they beat Surrey by 8 wickets with Will Buttleman and Sam Cook returning personal best T20 figures. Cook captured 4 wickets for just 15 runs whilst opener Buttleman scored 56 not out.
The Eagles now have a total of 5 points with half of their qualifying matches completed.
Middlesex have managed just a single win from their five matches thus far and are at the foot of the South Group table. Their victory came against Hampshire by a 3 wicket margin but clashes with Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent Spitfires and Surrey have all ended in defeats.
The home side will be missing top-rated white ball batsman Eoin Morgan who is leading England in their T20 series with Sri Lanka. However, New Zealand international Daryl Mitchell has now joined Middlesex for the remainder of the T20 campaign.
Squad:
McGrath’s View:
Anthony McGrath admitted that the victory against Surrey earlier this week that ended an unwanted sequence of five matches without a win Eagles came as a welcome relief.
“It had not been the greatest of performances for a few games before we beat Surrey, but we showed what we are capable of in that match,” said the Eagles Head Coach.
”It was obviously a much-needed win and now we have the chance to build on that with back-to-back matches with Middlesex on Thursday and then Kent Spitfires on Friday.
“Games in T20 come thick and fast, it’s easy to get on a losing run but equally, it’s also possible to put a decent winning run together. If we can do that, there are still enough games left for us to qualify for the next stage and that’s what we are aiming for.
“As we keep saying, it’s fine margins in T20 cricket, it’s about doing the basics really well and we did that against Surrey. If you get a few wickets in the powerplay and then when you bat, someone in the top-order takes responsibility and gets you off to a good start, it’s a different game.”
Sam Cook, Will Buttleman and Michael Pepper all attracted special mention from the Eagles Head Coach.
“It was good to see our young players taking the lead, I was delighted for Sam because he’s been our best bowler in the competition so far and Will is an exciting player,” he stated.
“I thought he showed great maturity and I’m sure he’ll take a lot of pride from his innings. I also thought Michael was very mature in the way he supported Will through to the end.
“You need individuals to perform and we had that on Monday.
“There’s still a lot of cricket to be played but we need to back up that performance and get a good run going. When we do that, we know that we are a match for anyone.”
Injury/Absentees News:
The Eagles have named an unchanged 14-man squad for the fixture with Middlesex.
Opposition:
Coach: Stuart Law
Captain: Steven Finn
Last Year’s Performance: Fourth in the South Group
2020 Leading Runscorer: Stevie Eskinazi (413 runs @ 41.30)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Steven Finn (14 wickets @ 19.00)
Key Man: Stevie Eskinazi
With Morgan and Stirling only available for the opening stages, Middlesex will look to Eskinazi to embrace the freedom to play his shots and repeat last year’s sparkling form.
Flies under the radar: Nathan Sowter.
Leg-spinner Sowter may attract few headlines but has become one of Middlesex’s most consistent T20 wicket-takers and helped propel his side to the quarter-finals in 2019.
Blast Expectations:
While Middlesex have underperformed in the Blast, this year’s tournament will be a welcome switch in formats after a poor start to their Championship campaign. England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan returns as skipper and bolsters a brittle batting line-up alongside explosive Ireland opener Paul Stirling.
Power-hitting New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell joins for the final group games, but the challenge for the rest of the batters is whether they can post competitive totals consistently once Morgan and Stirling resume international duties. Otherwise, Middlesex again have a largely youthful feel. The Seaxes will hope these promising youngsters can kick on after being given an extended run over the last year.
Spin could play a decisive role with several slow bowling options available, including experienced leg-spinner Nathan Sowter, Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman who has risen to number five in the world rankings since his last stint at Lord’s and Sydney Thunder off-spinning all-rounder Chris Green.
Head-to-Head:
When the teams met at Lord’s last year, the home side won by 11 runs after being put into bat. Openers Steve Eskinazi (51) and Max Holden (46) put on 97 before being parted but then wickets fell at regular innings before a brisk unbeaten 25 by Luke Hollman took the home side to 167-7 at the conclusion of their innings.
With a short boundary on the Tavern side to encourage batsmen, the Eagles were hopeful of recording their first win of the T20 campaign in four matches, but a number of batsmen promised substantial contribution only to perish in the deep.
When Steven Finn claimed 2 wickets in 4 balls including Ryan ten Doeschate for 32, the visitors needed 32 from 3 overs with 3 wickets remaining. Simon Harmer then hit a breezy 23 from 12 deliveries including 2 sixes and at the start of the final over sent down by Miguel Cummins, 23 were needed.
The first delivery was a waist-high full toss and a free hit was called, then 10 runs came from the next three balls to keep the Eagles hopes alive. But Harmer was bowl to the next delivery and Essex finished on 156-8.
Of the 30 matches contested, Essex narrowly shade the honours with 15 victories, 1 more than Middlesex whilst 1 match was abandoned.
How To Watch:
There will be a Live Stream service from Lord’s, which will be broadcasting ahead of play from 6:15pm via the Essex Cricket Matchzone.
Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.
