Middlesex 256-5 (45.5 overs)
Sussex 255-9 (50 overs)
Middlesex beat Sussex by five wickets
Sam Robson and Joe Cracknell shared a blistering stand of 144 in 111 balls as Middlesex sped to victory over Sussex in the Metro Bank One Day Cup at Lord’s.
Robson, in his benefit year with the Seaxes, struck a run a ball 89 (14 fours and a six) while Cracknell also cleared the ropes and hit 12 boundaries in his 78 as the hosts chased down a target of 256 with 25 balls to spare despite 3 for 48 for Henry Crocombe.
Earlier, Sussex’s total of 255-9 was built around half centuries from Jack Carson (73 from 58) and Fynn Hudson-Prentice (58 in 73).
Noah Cornwell returned 3 for 50 while 18-year-old Jamie Feldman, making his List A debut, took a wicket with his second ball en route to figures of 2 for 36.
Middlesex seized the initiative early thanks to Toby Roland-Jones’s double strike, with Tom Haines caught at mid-on before Danial Ibrahim was trapped in front.
Hudson-Prentice’s innings got off to a bizarre start when a quick single saw a shy at the stumps which hit the non-striker Tom Clark, the ricochet carrying the ball to the fence.
The all-rounder almost played on to a ball from Cornwell, swatting the ball away from danger, but a lovely off-drive soon had him motoring – a Roland-Jones delivery nonchalantly flicked over the short boundary for six.
Feldman then made a dramatic entrance, having Clark caught by skipper Ben Geddes, and striking for a second time to cut short Sussex skipper John Simpson who hit a breezy 22.
Hudson-Prentice passed 50 in 61 balls, sharing a stand of 52 with Oli Carter before being superbly caught by Jack Davies and when Cornwell ended Carter’s promising innings three runs later the visitors were 152-6.
The fact they batted out their overs was almost entirely down to Carson’s splendid innings.
The all-rounder ruthlessly exploited the short boundary, endangering occupants of the Mound Stand on four occasions as he sprinted to 50 at more than a run a ball before finally perishing caught at cover in the penultimate over.
By then, Feldman had unfurled another party piece, brilliantly running out Danny Lamb with a direct hit.
Middlesex lost De Caires lbw to Ari Karvelas early in the chase but Robson and Cracknell responded with a boundary blitz, the former clubbing one from Hudson-Prentice over the ropes as well as creaming several fours effortlessly through the covers.
Carson relieved the quicks only to be swept twice to the ropes by Cracknell, who followed that by dispatching one from Crocombe into the stands as 93 came from the powerplay.
Cracknell’s ninth four took him to 50 in 33 balls and Robson’s half-century took only three more as the pair forged on.
The Durham University graduate took a liking to the spin of Archie Lennon too, cutting successive balls behind square, and it needed Lamb to end his revelry courtesy of Haines’s catch on the square leg fence.
While Robson became more circumspect, Geddes picked up the baton, clearing the ropes and driving Lamb to the cover fence, reaching 30 before Crocombe pegged back his off stump.
When Robson followed him to the pavilion seven balls later courtesy of a magnificent diving catch by Lamb at mid-on there were jitters in the home dressing-room.
Davies cleared the ropes only to perish to the next ball and, with the visitors employing three slips, runs slowed to a trickle.
Hollman though steadied the ship with a mature unbeaten 30 to see the hosts over the line.
Sussex skipper John Simpson said: “We did some good stuff with the bat but didn’t get the total we would have liked. The pitch wasn’t that easy to start on but, as on any wicket, if you got in you could go on and score.
“We didn’t really have that guy who was going to go on and get that big score that would really anchor the innings. Fynn (Hudson-Prentice) played beautifully and the same with Carse (Jack Carson) but we just lost wickets through poor execution.
“Then with the ball we were miles off it. But the boys really fought back. Over the last hour or hour and a half, if somebody came into the stadium wondering who was on top, you would have thought it was us with our three slips.
“We created opportunities but you can’t let a team be 120 – or whatever they were after 12 overs – when you haven’t got a par total.
“If we could have scraped to 290 to 300, I thought that was about right on that pitch. It started to spin and got a bit slower and lower. Any time you get 250 to 260 you are in the game but it is going to be a tough ask.
“And if you don’t start well and give away too many freebies, it makes the rest of the innings a lot more challenging for the bowlers.”
…
Middlesex List A debutant Jamie Feldman said: “I’ve watched games here before but never been in the dressing-room so it has been really cool to be here – a great day.
“Over the winter I’ve been training with Middlesex, got a bit faster and then everything has been happening really quickly. I’m riding the wave and trying not to get injured. It’s completely surreal.
“It still feels weird that other people actually come to watch you play cricket and that it is something other people care about.
“It helps that the ground here creates the drama. You feel like you are playing in the atmosphere when you are here and I wasn’t too nervous which was good.
“I was more surprised by the run out than the wicket. I had another run out chance too but didn’t pick the ball up properly and so couldn’t throw it.”
