What Happened Dext

Seaxe Man reports on day 2 at Hove. This comes in after days 3+4, but gives us a detailed account on events leading up to this classic finish. Thanks Seaxe Man for this virtual retrospective ball by ball commentary.

8.47 ex Victoria, arrived Hove at9.50. Troublefree run. Sun peeping through. To be warmer than yesterday I wasassured. Heard the sound of seagulls and saw the sea. So definitely the rightplace.

Overnight scenario. Middle 46 for 3Shah 9no, Dex 6no. Dropped anchor in deckchair and joined 6 other Middlepunters. All were staying down here for the duration. There were mixed opinionsre the previous night's badlight situ, when we went off at 39 for 1, returnedand were soon 40 for 3.

Sat at mid off angle towicket in the deckchair end.

Abreviations: SE = Sea End CRE =Cromwell Road End

1st sesh

Sun shining, white cumulus cloudsoverhead as we get underway. Collymore to bowl 3 balls to Dex to completethe incomplete over from lastnight. After which the day's 96 overs were inprogress. Dex took a 4 through square leg from the 3rd delivery. 50 up.

Naved to Shah down the hill(CRE). Following a single, Dex pulls Colly for 4. A couple of byes, then Shahhits Naved over the top for 4. Prior looked to me, as though he has shed about25 lbs from my last sighting.

Shah, a single to square leg. Dex a 4through midwicket. Saves follow on. 69 for 3. Time 11.17. A two up the hill byDex, Shah turns to leg for four. Clunks into boundary board to our left. Theruns are coming at a fast pace. Slightly chancy single by Ace. Anotherpushed single by Ace, leads to a shy at the stumps. Missed.

Classic offdrive for 4 by Dexfollowed by another. Glorious offdrive by Shah. Shot of the day so far. Sun nowout strongly, so we continue in good light. Ace then however, shouldered arms,and saw his off peg plucked from the ground by Collymore and sent cartwheelingback 5 yards.. 89 for 4. Shah 24. 

The Middle had added 43 in half anhour and had looked good doing it. Simpson takes strike against Collymore andblocks first delivery. 4 leg byes then Simpson guides ball past 3rd slip for 2,then takes a three to bring up the 100. Time 11.40. No ball by Naved.There is a very fair crowd in the members area by this time. Field 2 slips,point, cover, mid on/off, 3rd man, fine leg, mid wicket. Extra slip forCollymore.

Straight driven 4 by Dex down thehill. Given his lack of practice/matchplay, Dex is looking the real deal atthis point. He then cracks a square cut for 4. Both off Colly. A slightlyedgier 3rd consecutive 4 off Colly. A legside 4 from Simpson amidst onfieldoohs and aahs from the Sussex fielders.

First bowling change RobinMartin'Jenkins for Colly from the SE. Time 11.54. Score 123 for 4. Simpsonturns RMJ square for 4. A good stop by cover prevents another. A double bowlingchange. Anyon (late of Warwickshire) from CRE. Dex imperiously ondrives Anyonfor 4 to bring up his 50. Great shot. 133 for 4. Time 12'o'clock. 87 runs inthe hour.  4 byes conceded off RMJ. Short ball from Anyon is pulled bySimpson for a legside four.

Monty then comes on at the SE. He isgreeted by a 4 off the last ball by Dex through midwicket. The runs continue toflow. He edged Anjon but dropped short of fielder. Beautiful off drive bySimpson. Bowler Anyon. Panesar beat Simpson but without result. The first ballto beat the bat for quite awhile. We are now basking in warm sunshine. Lovelystraight for 4 by Dex. Our run currency, very much boundary based.

RMJ switched to CRE and made lbappeal. Looked legside as agreed by umpire. A quieter period ensued, accumulaterather than blast. Sussex had taken the pace off the ball to slow the scoringrate. The spell was broken with nice straight driven 3 by Simpson. Soonfollowed by a clip wide of slips for 4 by Dex.

In the run up to lunch, Dex pulls fortwo, fielders comically get in a tangle preventing the boundary. Chris Nash,spelled RMJ at CRE. Maiden followed. Good sesh for The Middle. A total of 135runs for 1 wicket. Simpson 38no, Dex 71no. Lunch Middle 181 for 4.

Admired and used the new facilites atthe Cromwell Road End. Comprises new toilets and food/drink outlets. Foundchips on sale near The Sussex Cricketer, had a chat with Lower Pavilion, Frankand the two Dannies..

Middlesex resuming at 181 for 4. RMJ to Dexter. Hetook 3 of the 5th ball with a legside tickle for 4, then another to bring upthe 100 partnership. A valuable and rare currency this season. Eventuallya ball from RMJ kept low and caught Dex low down. Lbw. Dexter a fine 80 with ahigh proportion of boundaries, 11 in his first 50. 197 for 5, just as abatting point loomed. Berg replaced him. The scoring rate slowed with many oohsand aahs from Panesar operating from the Cromwell Road End.

Simpson edged RMJ behind 198 for 6. Simpson 45. 2wickets had gone down and the valued batting point was still not secured. Bergand Smith then embarked on a 46 run partnership which secured that and the lead.A RMJ maiden. Last couple of runs for batting point becoming a struggle. Bergie2 legside fours off Monty put that to bed to bring up 200, plus the battingpoint. Superb off drive by Bergie for 4 taking RMJ to the top corner at CRE.

A quiet spell followed. Scores level at 217. Smithgets off the mark with a 4 through midwicket off Naved. Pulls away from nexttwo balls. Another 4 from Smith, same area. Smith forces a 3 to leg. A fiercecut by Smith at Naved, missed, brings a tumbling stop from Prior. A prettyfair crowd had built up since lunch. The sun shining, always helps.

Two fast two's by Smith off Anyon now at Sea End.Smith legside cut for 4, square cut for 4. Panesar switches ends. Gainsimmediate success. Smith 24 lbw. 244 for 7. Lead a precarious 30.  Murtsnext in, kept out a good yorker from Anyon. A nice off driven four by Bergiefollowed by another, brought us the second batting point.

Cut by Murts well stopped by gully fielder. Cut for4 by Murts. Straight driven 6 by Gareth lands just wide of the sightscreen, asecond out at wide long on just carried. A 3rd 6 to players pavilion tookBergie to 50. Plus a four, 22 off the Panesar over. This over was like an IPLgame in the 19th over, with 3 DLF maximums. Well played mate. Needless to sayMonty was not impressed making several lbw shouts, all turned down to hischagrin.

Next Monty over, Berg swept once too often. Lbw.Berg 60. Score 287 for 8. Monty appeared to send Berg on his way. This did'ntimpress Gareth too much and some verbal exchanges appeared to take place. Animportant innings in the context of the match. IOB came in, at 10 althoughlisted on the card at 5. His nightwatchman duties had got around. 13 requiredfor 3rd batting point.

Lofted drive by Murts for 2, edged for 1 off thereturning Collymore. New ball taken at 3.35. Collymore to IOB. Nice edge for 2by Murts. IOB lbw to Collymore for 0. Score 294 for 9. Pedro joined Murts butalso failed to trouble the scorers. 296ao. Failed by 4 runs to make the 300.Murts left on 13 no.

There was an umpiring mistake, when they and theteams  left the field for tea at 294 for 9, when a further 8 overs areavailable in that situ with nine down. They returned, immediately, andPedro did not delay tea very long.

Tea: Middlesex lead 79. 117 runs for 6 wickets inthe session, suggests that the home side had the best of that. Though GarethBerg would probably disagree.

This session commenced with the home side openingtheir second innings, in the persons of Nash and Thornely. Murts from SE. 1stover went for 12. This however was to prove a false dawn for the home side. IOBfrom CRE. Sussex were intent on attack, lb shout turned down. 19 off 2overs.Looks like a T20 powerplay, 4 off the edge. 31 off 3 overs. At 33, Murtsremoved Thornely for 15. Lbw. Shah was heard bellowing encouragement in theoutfield, along the line of 'C''mon The Middle'.

Tim then removed Gatting for 0 caught behind. 39for 2. 44 for 3. IOB removed Goodwin's off stump with a well disguised slowerball. Goodwin 0.  Sussex, under the cosh, responded with two fours fromNash. Good stop by Bergie at cover saved four. Smart stop by Pedro at midoff, who then fielded the next two balls. No runs.

Pedro then came on at the SE, 2 slips, rest offield spread. Excited shout for lb. Another shout from Pedro, but adjedged bythe umpire to be an Eiffel Tower job. Bergie from CRE. Some retrenchmentby the home side. 73 for 3. 10 overs left. Time 5.15. 81 for 4, which wasactually in match terms, 2 for 3. Game on. Smith at CRE. Pedro got one to keeplow 84 for 4. Nash gone for 42 lbw. Smith bowled a maiden.

Pedro in a good spell, beat Hodd off the wicket,but no edge. Smith also engaged in a good spell. Pressure from both ends. Priorraised the siege with a straight driven 4 off Pedro. Dex made a great gullystop. 96 overs completed by 5,55. So a bonus over or two. Tim for last overfrom CRE with three slips and a gully. Sussex closed at 113 for 4. An overalllead of 34 with 6 wickets left.

This session and the day, belonged to The Middle.

Summation

Having the benefit of knowing the result beforedoing this report. It was nice to know that Dex's 80, Bergie runs in bothinnings (109), Malan's 100no, he looked in good nick, 51no overnight, when thematchwinning stand with Bergie started late on Friday, plus Murtsfivefer did not go in vain.

Hopefully, this result will kickstart the 4dayseason. Funny, we won at Canters last year against the top team. We need tofollow up on this, this season.