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Coetzer 'chuffed for the guys' after first win over a Full Member

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Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer and vice-captain Con de Lange were yearning for divine intervention during Malcolm Waller’s late surge that took their first-ever ODI against Zimbabwe down to the wire. Their prayers were answered when Waller, in his attempt to strike a sixth six, found Chris Sole on the deep square leg boundary – some may say literally. It ended Waller’s innings at 92 off 62 balls as Scotland prevailed by 26 runs via the DLS Method to pick up their first ODI win against a Full Member.”When that ball was going to deep square off Waller, I was just praying for it to land inside the ropes because he hadn’t hit many inside,” Coetzer told ESPNcricinfo. “He hit them all over the rope or even out of the ground. Then, when that last one went up, just over the moon; really, really over the moon, really chuffed for the guys. You could tell by the emotions and the celebrations from the guys, we’re obviously really happy with the day.”Waller had struck a series of sixes straight down the ground and to the east boundary, including one extraordinary cut with the wind at his back that sailed 30 yards over the point boundary, into the adjacent tennis courts. Zimbabwe entered the last three overs requiring 38 with two wickets in hand. After a lengthy chat, left-arm spinner de Lange was brought on, and Waller drove his second ball for a straight six out of the ground. But three balls later, in trying to hit one through the wind, Waller’s slog hung up in the stiff breeze for Sole to take the catch.It was controversial as video footage appeared to indicate Sole’s foot came in contact with the boundary rope before quickly coming off. Waller initially stayed on the field while Zimbabwe’s bench protested; the umpires conferred before sticking with the call that it had been a clean catch. Waller said another six there would have made the last two overs manageable, especially with at least one needing to be bowled by a medium pacer.”With this wind, we knew you have to target the one side where it is,” Waller said. “When they brought the spinner on in the third-last over there, I felt it was a good chance for me to bang a couple of boundaries, even though the wind was coming. I was probably looking to go straighter. I knew that if I could put the spinner under a lot of pressure and get two or three sixes in that over, they would definitely be under a lot of pressure with two seamers left. Ten an over against seamers, I think is pretty comfortable on here.”De Lange said he felt tense at the start of the 41st over despite having already taken four wickets, and prayed for the wind to help keep the ball in play.”It was quite nerve-wracking. I must be honest because the one that went for six, I missed the length slightly, and then that one hit the length, trying to get him to hit into the wind, and then I was just praying for the ball to come down inside the rope and it was taken,” de Lange said. “That’s why we all play cricket. That’s what you grow up as a kid dreaming towards, beating Test nations.”Our victory is probably a result of belief that we can do really well, can compete and beat the big boys. So to win, just everyone’s emotion afterwards, as soon as that last catch was taken, that relief is a fantastic feeling.”The controversial catch aside, Waller felt Zimbabwe had tripped themselves up early in the chase with needless run-outs on a good batting track. Hamilton Masakadza had battered Scotland in the Powerplay and looked set for a big score before he was run out, responding to a call for a tight single from Solomon Mire, in the 11th over for 38. It ended the opening partnership at 55.”We’ve been following a couple of games that have been played here, and obviously they have been high-scoring,” Waller said. “So we knew it is a decent batting track, and I think on average, guys are looking at 280-290. So when they posted that score, we were confident and felt if we had wickets in hand and had a good start up front that we’d be able to chase it down or get close to it towards the end.”When you’re chasing a big score like that, you don’t want run-outs. You’re going to get run-outs in games, but it’s crucial not to lose your wickets like that. I think we got off to a really good start with Hamilton and Mire, and we were definitely going along and putting them under pressure. But then just silly run-outs definitely put a damper, and then a couple of quick wickets after that definitely holds you back when you have to go at six-seven an over.”Over the course of the day, Scotland had been the side to hold their nerve under pressure. They were tested at the start, where they were limited to four runs off the first four overs. But Coetzer, who was composed to begin with, unleashed his array of drives and cuts later in the Powerplay en route to his fourth ODI ton that set up a defendable total. Coetzer hoped that the win, Scotland’s first in ODIs over a Full Member after 23 losses, will influence other Full Members to schedule fixtures against them.”I hope it will prove and put a case forward to giving us more opportunities, and this is what we’ve been waiting to do for a little while,” Coetzer said. “We’ve taken a little bit longer than other teams have, but we’ve now got a strong squad of players and we hope that we could still keep on challenging and maybe play some of the other Test-ranked teams. It’s definitely made a statement today.”

Players offer flexibility on revenue share

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Australia’s players are willing to compromise on a major financial sticking point that lies at the heart of their ongoing pay dispute with Cricket Australia (CA). As the board’s nine directors met in Brisbane on Thursday, the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) opened up a potential path for more productive talks, by indicating they are open to a redefinition – and reduction – of the revenue they are entitled to share in.That led to a reciprocal response from CA, who have expressed their own willingness to be “flexible”. In a negotiation period that began last November and has been the most divisive and bitter in 20 years, this may be a significant step forward ahead of the June 30 deadline by which the parties must find agreement.CA has repeatedly claimed that the ACA is seeking a share of all revenue in the game for professional players, including from such areas as sponsorships of grassroots competitions and junior registrations. The claim was made explicit in a briefing note distributed to media last week, which said:”A proportion of revenue from the sponsorship of grassroots cricket programs has to be distributed to elite player payments. Under the ACA’s new proposal, a guaranteed 22.5% of all CA and the states and associations revenue means the players would receive 22.5 cents of every dollar spent by parents on a junior registration fee.”However, the ACA have now confirmed that the players’ flexibility over the next pay agreement extends to being “open to a discussion of what is in and what is out of shared revenue streams.” The position was conveyed in a letter to the CA chairman David Peever last month.A narrower definition of agreed revenue may be the first building block of a deal between the parties. It would remove the impending risk of a major industrial relations battle, in a year when Australia are scheduled to play a home Ashes series after tours of South Africa, Bangladesh and India.”The players have always had and still do have flexibility,” the ACA president Greg Dyer said, striking a far less confrontational tone. “There is room to move to modernise this partnership. The ACA can discuss new models of revenue sharing, and how we can collectively manage risk.”A CA spokesman said the board was also prepared to be flexible. “CA believes there is still time to conclude an MoU by 30 June and reiterates its preparedness to be flexible in negotiations,” he said. “CA urges the ACA to spend more time at the negotiating table and less time writing press releases in order to begin making progress towards a resolution.”Less than a month remains before the expiry of the current MoU, with CA threatening that all players out of contract will be unemployed should the ACA not agree to discuss its current pay offer. A key plank of the offer is the replacement of revenue sharing with fixed wages for players, with only international players entitled to any of the game’s “blue sky” above that, while state player contract levels are effectively frozen over the next five years.CA’s tactics have included efforts to put space between the ACA and the players, including the team performance manager Pat Howard’s attempts to deal directly with all contracted players by email. Howard recently offered multi-year deals to the top five CA-contracted players – Steven Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins – under the board’s new terms, an approach that was quickly rebuffed.The allrounder Moises Henriques, who is also part of the ACA executive, said the association was working closely with the players, and that they were willing to be flexible in the interests of reaching an agreement with CA.”We’re a part of the decision-making process, in strategy and how we play it … and the ACA are just a representative agent of the players,” he said. “Really, the decisions get made by the players and the ACA acts on their behalf.”It’s not like we [the ACA] are going to do anything the players don’t want to do. Coming to an agreement would be the best way forward. What we’ve got to worry about is that agreement being made as quickly as possible. Maybe CA may have to give a little bit, we may have to give a little bit, who knows. But the players know we need to get to an agreement. Guys want to play international cricket, guys want to play state cricket. The players want it sorted and I am sure CA do as well.”

Wilson shines at the start of his Derbyshire challenge

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ScorecardFile photo – Gary Wilson made a handy start to his Derbyshire career•PA Photos

Gary Wilson marked his first-class Derbyshire debut with an impressive half century on a day of fluctuating fortunes against Northamptonshire in the Division Two County Championship match at Derby.Wilson, the former Surrey wicketkeeper batsman, showed excellent judgement to score 72 from 104 balls but three wickets from Nathan Buck ensured the honours were shared when rain forced an early close with Derbyshire 219 for 6.”It was important that we fought hard and I think it was a pretty even day,” Wilson said. “It will be an important first hour in the morning and if we can battle on and get as close to 300 as possible, I think we’ll be in a good position.”When I came to the wicket they had just gone ‘bang, bang’ so we had two new batters at the crease but we knew that if we absorbed some pressure and could counter a little bit we would be in a good position if we managed to come through that.”It could have been better for both teams as the initiative changed hands several times on a cool, overcast day when the County Ground floodlights were needed from the start of play.The overhead conditions probably persuaded Northants to bowl first and there was certainly enough to suggest it was the right decision as the seamers went past the bat numerous times.Ben Sanderson was the pick of the attack and was unlucky not to dismiss Luis Reece early on when the former Lancashire batsman, one of four Derbyshire debutants, edged just short of Ben Duckett at first slip.Both Reece and skipper Billy Godleman displayed good temperament to bat deep into the first session before Sanderson deservedly broke through when he got one to lift on Reece who was caught off the shoulder of the bat at fourth slip.Reece made only 19 but importantly for Derbyshire he batted for 95 minutes to take the sting out of the bowlers although Sanderson gained another reward for his morning’s work when he moved one back just enough to trap Godleman lbw for 33.The game appeared to have taken a significant shift towards Northants when two wickets in six balls early after lunch reduced Derbyshire to 114 for 4.Rory Kleinveldt had struggled for a consistent line in the morning but he found enough away movement to have Wayne Madsen caught at second slip for 12 before Buck pinned Shiv Thakor lbw with the first ball of the next over.For the next 25 overs it was about Wilson and Daryn Smit who also played soundly on his debut before he was squared up by Buck who then had Wilson lbw playing across the line before bad light and rain ended play.”I thought we bowled well as a unit and put the ball in the right area although maybe a bit too short but we’ll be happy if we bowl them out under 250,” Buck said.”It did a bit this morning but it still swung all day, we kept the ball in good condition, and we caught well again today. Four quick wickets in the morning and we should be alright.”

South Africa take series 1-0 after rained-out final day

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAugust 2006 to March 2017. That’s five months shy of 11 years. And in that time, South Africa have only lost one Test series away from home. With a 1-0 win over New Zealand, not only was that record safe, it was made better. So what if they needed a little help from a little rain (51 mm, according to Met Service predictions)? They’ve deserved it. Few teams in the history of cricket have been such indomitable travellers.Inherent in that is praise for Kane Williamson’s team too. They were stripped of three of their biggest match-winners – Ross Taylor (16 centuries), Trent Boult and Tim Southee (a combined 394 wickets). They lost the toss. They conceded a total of 314 and then took a lead of 175. At stumps on day four, they were five wickets away from beating South Africa for the first time in 13 years.And then, there was no more cricket. Overnight storms spilled over into the playing hours, and Faf du Plessis, who was at the crease even as his colleagues succumbed to the fatigue of spending 162.1 overs on the field, was denied the chance to add to his many blockathons. He had seen his side careen to No. 7 in the ICC rankings at the start of the summer. “A dark time,” he called it at the post-match presentation. On the April 1 cut-off date, du Plessis will be confirmed as the captain of the No. 2 team in the world. With a bumper season at home coming up later in the year, he and his men could easily think about going one better.

India comeback has helped me play more freely – Yuvraj

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Yuvraj Singh has said that his return to India’s limited-overs sides has helped him express himself more “freely”, after he struck a match-winning 62 off 27 for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening game of IPL 2017 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.”I enjoyed my batting tonight. My batting has been up and down over the couple of years, but I am feeling really good at the moment,” Yuvraj told . “The comeback into the Indian team has really helped me. I am more free in my mind and I am not worrying anymore about making a comeback. I am just going to play according to the situation and express myself.”Yuvraj was recalled to India’s ODI and T20I sides for the home series against England in January, having previously played for the side in the 2016 World T20. Picked on his form in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, he went on to score 210 runs in the three-match ODI series, including a 127-ball 150 in the second ODI in Cuttack. He scored his fastest IPL fifty on Wednesday, reaching the landmark in 23 balls.Sunrisers captain David Warner said Yuvraj was given the No. 4 slot so that he could get his eye in before getting in the big hits.”Look, it’s superb to see him play the way he did. That’s the Yuvi I used to watch on TV,” Warner said. “Superb stroke-play, hitting it clean, and, you know what, he backed himself. And that’s the way we want him to keep playing. He’s batting at [No.] 4 for a reason and that’s to get himself in and play that way. If he can do that another five or six times for us this year, we are going to go a long way to the finals.”Yuvraj said the game-changing moment was Ben Cutting’s darting throw from fine-leg to run out a set Kedar Jadhav at a crucial stage in Royal Challengers’ chase of 208. Shane Watson, standing in as captain of Royal Challengers, also agreed that Jadhav’s run-out turned the game in Sunrisers’ favour, ending a promising 56-run partnership for the third wicket. Watson also pointed to the side’s sloppy fielding, particularly a dropped catch when Yuvraj was on 26, as a factor in their loss.Yuvraj Singh’s 27-ball 62 was his fastest fifty in ten seasons of IPL•BCCI

“That run-out of Kedar was the turning point, really,” Watson said. “We were neck and neck with Sunrisers and then we lost a couple of wickets especially through the middle period. He is batting beautifully at the moment, so Ben Cutting’s amazing piece of work changed the game. Especially with someone like Yuvi, if he is able to get some momentum, with the dropped catches, he hits the ball so sweet. If you drop someone of his caliber, he can hurt you like he did tonight.”There’s no doubt that <Yuzi [Yuzvendra Chahal] bowled beautifully. More than anything, Sunrisers took the game on in certain parts. A little bit of sloppy fielding, some good batting [from Sunrisers] and some not great execution at times meant they could get away. Unfortunately I didn’t execute what I wanted to do against Ashish Nehra’s left-arm pace. We certainly didn’t click as a bowling unit, and that comes down partly to me. I take full blame for that. Still a big learning curve for me to know how to take to them [bowlers], what fields to set and we will certainly be a lot better from what happened tonight.”

'World T20 triumph is in the past' – Holder

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Jason Holder has urged his inexperienced West Indies side to “make a mark” during the ODI series against England.While West Indies’ recent results have not been hugely encouraging – their last ODI action saw them fail to qualify for the final of a tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe – Holder believes his squad contains some richly talented cricketers that require only more experience of international cricket before results start to improve.”The more cricket we play together, the better we’ll become,” Holder said on the eve of the first ODI in Antigua. “We had some new faces come out at the end of last year, in our series in Zimbabwe. I thought we had a pretty decent series but one of the major factors that hurt us was inexperience.”We’ve a very inexperienced side. It’s a relatively young team. But we’re looking to make a mark on the international circuit.”The key thing, Holder says, is to look forward. So there can be no dwelling on the success of the World T20 or the fact that many of the region’s best-known players have been deemed ineligible due to the WICB selection criteria.”The World T20 has gone,” Holder said. “We’ve celebrated that. It was a wonderful achievement a while back now. So it’s important for us to move on. Not to dwell on it – not forget it – but to move on and understand we need to improve our position in the ODI rankings and Test cricket. We need to qualify for the World Cup, that that is our goal.”This feels like a clean slate. We’ve quite a few changes in our administrative part and we have to get accustomed to the new coach, director of cricket and CEO. But it’s important for us to just deal with cricket. That’s the only thing we can control.”It’s a new year. We just came off our domestic competition. Everybody is raring to go. I’m happy with the side I have right now.”While West Indies may adopt a slightly old-school approach to ODI cricket – Kraigg Brathwaite will be expected to provide the anchor role in batting though the 50-overs, with others attacking around him – Holder feels his team also offers aggressive, exciting players who could become well-known over the next few years.”Shai Hope came off a very good tour in Zimbabwe and followed up starting the year well in our domestic competition,” Holder said. “We’ve got young exciting cricketers like Rovman Powell and Jason Mohammed. From the fast-bowling point, there’s Shannon Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph. So we’ve an inexperienced side but we’re looking to make a mark on the international circuit.”They’re ranked higher than us. We’ve got some way to go in terms of catching up in the rankings. We just want to tick off our process boxes in terms of what we set out to achieve as a group. Our main thing is to be a lot more consistent than we have been in the past and I think once we do that we can be moving in the right direction.”

SA invite India for 2017-18 instead of SL

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India are on the verge of bumping Sri Lanka off the schedule for South Africa’s next home summer, CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat has revealed. The move may also affect the India v Pakistan series scheduled for the same 2017-18 New Year period.The international schedule – agreed to by boards in 2014 – had Sri Lanka going to South Africa for a second successive summer, for a three-Test tour. However CSA is now attempting to have India play four Tests, five ODIs and three T20s at that time instead.”I’ve given an indication to Sri Lanka that that tour is unlikely,” Lorgat said. “We’ve got a very packed season coming up, starting with Bangladesh in the early season. We’ve got India touring for four Test matches plus five ODIs and three T20s, and then we follow with Australia for four Test matches. It’s very unlikely, and I’ve already given the indication to Sri Lanka that they should avail themselves to someone else.”CSA’s plans to host India also hinge on the cancellation of the India-Pakistan tour scheduled for that same period. The India-Pakistan series that had been scheduled for December 2015 failed to go ahead due largely to political turmoil between the two nations. The schedule has Pakistan touring India for a three-Test tour at the end of this year, but that encounter is also under serious doubt.Lorgat said the BCCI had not confirmed the proposed tour of South Africa, but he put that down to the administrative upheaval in the India board, following a Supreme Court order earlier this week.”About the tour schedule with India: I’m not reading anything untoward,” Lorgat said. “They’ve got a difficult period that they’re going through currently. You would have read the president has been removed and the secretary has been removed. They are in a state of turmoil. I’ve been assured by them that in the next few weeks they will try and confirm that, but they’ve got a history of not confirming until a few months or a few weeks before.”SLC is aware that CSA wishes to bump them off the schedule, but have limited scope to protest, since next summer’s tour does not have a corresponding reciprocal series scheduled in Sri Lanka. Just as Sri Lanka have not been a particularly profitable guest for CSA – gate earnings at the Newlands Test have already been affected by the match failing to go five days – SLC also loses money when South Africa tour for Tests.The ICC does pay the smaller seven Full Member nations biannually from its Test Cricket Fund, in order to protect ties such as the Sri Lanka-South Africa series. However, the boards have generally been underwhelmed by the combined $1.25m paid to them each year as part of this fund. Even a two-Test series is understood to cost most boards more than $1.25m to host.

Selman's hundred dispels unhappy memories

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ScorecardMichael Hogan stood in as Glamorgan captain•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Glamorgan would have been in deep trouble had Australian born Nick Selman not scored 101, almost half the team’s total, in an attacking innings.Selman, who last month carried his bat for an undefeated hundred against Northants, looked as if would emulate that performance until he was bowled the delivery after reaching his century. He will hope that this innings will not start a run of poor form- following his first century he suffered a run of four ducks.After an uncontested toss, Mark Wallace – in the absence of Jacques Rudolph, who had a sore neck – opened the innings with Selman, but Wallace was out in the seventh over, leg before to David Payne, which prompted a spectator to shout behind the arm” that was a poor decision umpire”.Selman had started with a flurry of boundaries, and although Will Bragg and David Lloyd were both out cheaply, Glamorgan had reached 130 for 3 at lunch, with Selman and Aneurin Donald in full flow.The fourth wicket pair had put on 65, before Donald, who was only four runs short of his 1,000 first-class runs for the season, top-edged an intended pull to mid-on. Kieran Carlson, playing his second championship game, was out with scoring, and after Selman was dismissed, Craig Meschede was also dismissed by Matt Taylor.Graham Wagg, meanwhile, played a watchful innings on a pitch that was seamer friendly, and had to contend with some accurate bowling from the Gloucestershire seam quartet. Wagg and Timm Van Der Gugten added a useful 38 for the ninth wicket, enabling Glamorgan to gain a batting point, before they were both dismissed by Craig Miles who, with Taylor, took four wickets.Gloucestershire had to face 31 overs after tea, but soon lost Gareth Roderick who edged Van Der Gugten’s fifth ball to second slip. The Glamorgan seamers also bowled a tight line, but it was a short delivery that undid Chris Dent, who tamely guided the ball to square leg.Will Tavare, who had laboured 67 balls for his 18, was the next to go when he was lbw to Michael Hogan, who was leading Glamorgan in Rudolph’s absence. Hamish Marshall and George Hankin, who was the Player of the Tournament in the recent Under-19 series against Sri Lanka, guided Gloucestershire to the close at 62 for3, a deficit of 158.

Oval sunshine may soon depart for Davies

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ScorecardSteven Davies is attracting the attention of several counties•Getty Images

Where Steven Davies plays his cricket next season is unknown. He is out of contract at Surrey, and, retaining England ambitions, wants to regain the gloves. Thanks to the emergence of Ben Foakes, he will not get to do that at Surrey anytime soon, but several counties, including Somerset, would give much for a keeper of his batting prowess.On this sweltering day at The Oval – much of a hearty crowd spent the day moving to avoid the sun, inverting a county cricket tradition of fans congregating under any rays of sunshine, real or imaged – Surrey had cause to thank that, for now, Davies remains all theirs.His pristine late cut, gliding the ball precisely through backward point, must register as one of the most delightful shots in the county game. A threaded drive through point off Simon Kerrigan, in between two men placed to stop just such a shot was followed, in the next over, by a sumptuous flick through midwicket off Arron Lilley; the outcome of both deliveries belied a lack of discernible effort from the batsman as they raced across the boundary. Each was a triumph of timing and grace over power.It says everything of Davies that, in this form, he was not the lesser stylist in his partnership with Kumar Sangakkara. The most notable contrast between the two was in intent: Davies’ fine half-century arrived in 96 balls, while Sangakkara’s took just 47. Their partnership of 77 in 17.5 overs – a product of sharp running as well as clean hitting – imbued new impetus into Surrey’s innings until Sangakkara scythed Nathan Buck to gully, where he was neatly taken by Haseeb Hameed.Davies, though, seemed hell-bent on returning the following morning, leaving the ball judiciously in between caressing the ball through the offside. He had made 59 fine runs when, to his evident consternation, a slog sweep picked out midwicket in the last throes of the day. It embodied a season in which he has provided wondrous shot-making, and yet is still averaging under 40 in Championship cricket.His disappointment at squandering a chance to make a match-defining innings was shared by several in the Surrey dressing room: not just Sangakkara, but also the openers Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley. Batting with great diligence and an austere mood out of sync with the sunshine, they extended their overnight partnership to 160 before both fell in consecutive overs to a zesty spell from Kyle Jarvis: Sibley played on; Burns cut aberrantly outside offstump, just when he appeared set on a second century, and 1,000 runs, in the Championship summer.The upshot is that, while Surrey have a dominant position, it is not quite the impregnable one they had threatened to build. For that Lancashire’s perseverance should be lauded. If their attack lacks an incisive streak, they are not short of tenacity. And, with two spinners in their ranks, they might feel that a final day target of 250 or so could imperil Surrey. Should either county have a positive result to toast, it will effectively ensure that they do not return to Division Two in 2017.Three years and three days after his only Test match was ruined by Shane Watson at this same ground, Simon Kerrigan again recorded figures of 0 for 53; this time, though, off 20 overs rather than eight. Sangakkara had briefly revived these memories, by driving Kerrigan through long-off for four, and then sauntering down the wicket and flicking him over long-on for six, in consecutive balls, but this was mostly a day of steadfast accumulation, not high-summer madness.

Somerset decline brings little cheer at Taunton

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ScorecardJim Allenby did his utmost to hold off Middlesex•Getty Images

Eoin Morgan top scored with 43 as Middlesex boosted their hopes of a NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final place with a five-wicket win over Somerset at Taunton.The hosts were bowled out in 19.3 overs for a paltry 136 after winning the toss as their desperately disappointing group campaign yielded an eighth defeat. Jim Allenby top-scored with 64, while Tony Roland-Jones claimed three for 24.There were two wickets each for James Fuller, Harry Podmore and Nathan Sowter. Middlesex coasted to victory with five balls to spare as Morgan, Dawid Malan (24), George Bailey (21) and John Simpson (23 not out) led the way to the modest target.Somerset’s embarrassment was complete when a no-ball for not having enough fielders in the circle helped tilt the game towards Middlesex in the closing stages.Somerset’s innings was as grey as the weather. They were given a reasonable start by Allenby and Mahela Jayawardene, who took the score to 49 at the end of the six-over powerplay.Then Jayawardene was caught behind making room to cut Podmore and from that point the innings meandered, providing precious little excitement for home supporters in the crowd.Peter Trego departed to his first big hit, caught at long-off to give leg-spinner Sowter his first wicket and, although Allenby moved to a half-century off 38 balls, with 7 fours and a six, Somerset badly lost momentum.Johann Myburgh did his best to inject some urgency and hit the only other six of the innings before being caught attempting another. Tim Rouse’s first team debut ended on nine when he was bowled by Fuller.Roelof van der Merwe failed to clear the short boundary on the town side of the ground and fell to Roland-Jones, who followed up by dismissing Allenby and Lewis Gregory with the fifth and sixth balls of the same over.It was an all too familiar story for Somerset fans as only three batsman managed double figures.Under no pressure to score quickly, Middlesex openers Nick Gubbins and Dawid Malan still took 16 off the third over, bowled by Gregory.They had added 29 in 3.4 overs when Gregory took a sharp catch at mid-wicket off van der Merwe to dismiss Gubbins for 13.Middlesex then got bogged down themselves. Malan made room only to carelessly slash a catch to deep cover off Josh Davey, Somerset’s most impressive bowler.After ten overs the score was only 54 for two as Morgan and Bailey began watchfully. Morgan hit the first six of the innings off Max Waller in the 12th over.Bailey fell with the score on 91, caught at deep mid-wicket off Davey, but by then Morgan was starting to cut loose and he collected another maximum off van der Merwe in the 16th over as Middlesex closed in on victory.The England batsman was visibly frustrated over being caught at long-off in the 18th over to give Waller a wicket. And when James Franklin hit a Gregory full-toss straight to mid-off with nine needed from eight balls Middlesex hearts beat a little faster.But a no-ball awarded against Gregory for too many fielders outside the ring followed by a Ryan Higgins boundary quickly eased any nerves and a Simpson six off the first ball of the final over settled the outcome.Allenby said: “What happened with the last ball of the 19th over was that we knew we were running short of time and needed to get into position quickly.”I probably wasn’t quite clear enough in the field we needed to set and it was all a bit of a rush. The no-ball was called because we only had three men inside the circle.”Defending nine off the last over would have been tough, with John Simpson in form he has been showing, but there would have been a chance. As it turned out, the free hit went for four and the first ball of the last over for six, so we will never know what might have been.”