Essex beat Middlesex in rain-affected T20 game

Bad weather saw just 18.4 overs of cricket at Lord's

Essex beat Middlesex by 16 runs on the DLS method in a rain-blighted Vitality Blast game at Lord's.

The visitors, asked to bat by Middlesex, reached 129-4 in 12.4 overs before rain halted proceedings.

Having been set a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern target of 143 in 12 overs, rain arrived again just as Middlesex were about to begin their chase at 20:45 BST before they began a pursuit of 80 from just six overs 20 minutes later.

It was a forlorn chase and despite an unbeaten 41 in 24 balls from Max Holden, they finished well short on 63-2.

The other match in the South Group between Glamorgan and Hampshire Hawks in Cardiff was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

That made it the first match in this season's T20 Blast to not produce a result.

Jordan Cox top-scored for Essex with 31 from 19 balls

Not surprisingly after their record low T20 score of 78 two nights before against Somerset, Middlesex had opted to bowl first at Lord's.

Bad weather had delayed the start by 25 minutes and on a miserable evening at the home of cricket, the home side chipped away with the ball.

Teenage left-armer Noah Cornwell removed Adam Rossington (20) and Michael Pepper (23) as both batters started to look dangerous.

It was the same scenario for Dean Elgar, who was out for 28 to Luke Hollman and Paul Walter (18), bowled by Ryan Higgins.

But with 7.2 overs still to bowl, the visitors were on course for a score up towards 200 with Jordan Cox dangerously set on 31 from only 19 balls when they were forced from the field.

Middlesex were all set to begin their DLS pursuit of 143 - only for the rain to arrive again just as the players had made their way back on to the field.

The target was revised again to an unlikely 80 from 36 balls and Middlesex were always behind the run-rate. Walter delivered the fourth over of the innings, which went for four runs and brought both wickets, effectively sealing the result.

The win moves Essex, last year's runners-up, to fourth in the South Group, while Middlesex remain bottom with five defeats from their six games.

Just like the match in the Charlotte Edwards Cup scheduled for earlier in the day between Western Storm and Lancashire Thunder, the men's players did not even make it on to the field at Sophia Gardens.

Both sides take one point as Glamorgan remain in fifth on five points from five games, the same record as 2022 champions Hampshire, who move up one place to sixth.

The Welsh county sit out Friday's games, while Hampshire travel back across the M4 to welcome Middlesex.

Friday's fixtures

North Group:

Worcester: Worcestershire Rapids v Notts Outlaws (17:30)

Leicester: Leicestershire Foxes v Lancashire Lightning (18:30)

Derby: Derbyshire Falcons v Northamptonshire Steelbacks (19:00)

Edgbaston: Birmingham Bears v Yorkshire Vikings (19:05)

South Group:

Taunton: Somerset v Kent Spitfires (18:30)

Kia Oval: Surrey v Gloucestershire (18:30)

Chelmsford: Essex Eagles v Sussex Sharks (19:00)

Utilita Bowl: Hampshire Hawks v Middlesex (19:00)

All start times BST.