Bob Willis Trophy: Middlesex skittle Surrey for Oval win
- Published
Bob Willis Trophy, Kia Oval (day four): |
Middlesex 347-6 dec & 248-6 dec: Gubbins 60, Andersson 51; Moriarty 5-64 |
Surrey 282 & 123: Patel 44, Smith 40; Cummins 3-30 |
Middlesex (22 pts) beat Surrey (3 pts) by 190 runs |
Sam Robson took two wickets in two balls with his occasional leg-spin to spark a remarkable 190-run Middlesex victory against Surrey deep inside the final hour of a gripping London derby at the Kia Oval.
Surrey looked to be holding on quite comfortably for the draw after tea, with Rikki Clarke and Jordan Clark defending resolutely through 23 overs.
But, with 16 overs remaining, Robson was thrown the ball by Middlesex's acting captain Stephen Eskinazi and, with his fourth and fifth deliveries, he removed Clark and Dan Moriarity.
Clark, having made seven from 66 balls, chipped back a long hop and then an ecstatic Robson pinned Moriarty leg-before with a looping delivery which hit the left-hander on the foot as he played forward.
Middlesex smelled blood and it was their former West Indies fast bowler Miguel Cummins who swept them on towards their 22-point triumph, first having Matt Dunn superbly held for nought at short leg by Max Holden as he fended off a vicious lifter and then bowling James Taylor for four with an inswinger.
Clarke, desperately looking to claim the strike with last man Amar Virdi now in, advanced to the fifth ball of the 63rd over - bowled by Nathan Sowter - and the leg-spinner cleverly fired it through the batsman's legs for keeper John Simpson to gather and complete the stumping as Clarke (22) tried in vain to scramble back into his crease.
The last five Surrey wickets had tumbled for four runs in seven overs as they were all out for 123 and, with 8.1 overs remaining, Middlesex could celebrate a famous win against their greatest rivals.
Robson, who had only previously taken four first-class wickets at almost 50 runs apiece, finished with figures of 3-3-0-2 and the impressive Cummins took 3-30, while Ryan Patekl top-scored for Surrey with 44.
Earlier, Middlesex advanced from 184-3 to 248-6 before declaring, with Nick Gubbins reaching 60 before falling aas he tried to reverse sweep spinner Moriarty, who marked his debut with a five-for.
Surrey head coach Vikram Solanki told BBC Radio London:
"It's a disappointing start, but there was some good stuff in amongst it all.
"Dan Moriarty has been quite outstanding ever since he got here. He has a willingness to learn and an appetite for work. He likes to scrap and fight, which are good qualities for a spinner.
"We missed opportunities in the game from a batting point of view. We had lads get in but they have not gone on and got those big scores.
"We're fairly light (on numbers) given the fact that we have a few away and there are injuries to add to that."
Match report supplied by PA Media.