Phew, that was close

WayOutWest reports on an amazing day at Lord's as Middlesex seemed on their way to defeat against the Unicorns. Read all about the ups and downs of the day with some poor attempts for headlines.

Apologies in advance for the puns. I met Kev for the first time and he was quite keen for me to think of a headline. Unfortunately as the game went on we came up with about 50 so I thought I better throw a few in to the report.

We`re Only Here For The Run Rate

The early morning gloom lifted and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day to watch Middlesex win and hopefully boost the run rate. The Unicorns had quite a fair bit of success in their first year but seemed to be adapting to their last season by slowly burning away rather than going down in heroic flames.

The team selection seemed a little strange. I was a bit puzzled by the non-selection of Voges as if you are paying big money for an overseas player then he has to play, right? I would have thought Patel would get a game too as one thing that always seemed to stifle Berkshire back in the days of The Natwest Cup was a good spinner. As most of The Unicorns players are from the club/minor counties reach, I thought this would apply too.

Only 11 can be picked though, and anyway, this is going to be easy isn`t it? How little did we know….

Lance plays the Field

One thing that my Dad, Kev and myself agreed on was that The Unicorns seemed to have a habit of starting fast and then slowly folding. Tom Lancefield started very strongly playing a shot a ball, or so it seemed. He was a tad unlucky in that he kept finding the fielder.

Lineker was cleaned up by Harris very early and then O’Shea joined Lancefield and seemed intent on occupying the crease rather than scoring. The 50 came up in just ten overs and that was a steady start for the opposition. Lancefield then tried one big shot too any and Malan caught the skier.

Park entered the fray and my Dad seemed quite concerned with the height of The Unicorns players as they all seemed to be under the height of 5 feet 6. Surely the fast bowlers wouldn`t be in the mould of Gareth Batty?

Is This a Par(sons) score?

The middle overs were quite state as the batsmen struggled to find any gaps, form or fluency and Middlesex seemed to lack a real cutting edge to go through the middle order. Lewis Hill added some real impetus with a flashy 31 but didn`t go on when perhaps he should have done.

I found myself in a unique situation of actually wanting The Unicorns to score a decent total. The pitch looked good and anyway, we will chase the total no problem. Park stayed in for an age without looking to score too fast or take any risks.  40 years young Keith Parsons, however, was the star and played a whole manner of shots including a massive six into The Grandstand.

A flurry of late wickets slowed The Unicorns into a canter. Luke Beaven had obviously liked the big six and attempted one of his own but didn`t factor in Steve Finn stood on the boundary. He bagged the chance to the apparent disappointment of Kev who said he would have caught it otherwise. Still, no grand for a catch in the YB40.

208 for 7, a decent total but nothing to worry us unduly as we wandered down the shop for some liquid refreshment reinforcement.

Reed All about it

Stirling got the reply off to a brisk start and Dawid won the praise of my Dad for a nice straight four. Unfortunately those around him (including me) weren`t quite on the ball and seeing the scoreboard giving Stirling the runs gave him a bit of stick for not knowing the difference between a right handed  and a left handed batsman. Oops, touché. That damn scoreboard again.

Malan edged one of Reed and we were soon 17 for 1 but no panics. We`re only here for the run rate, here for the runnnnnnnnnn rate.

We`ve hit Reverse (sweep)

I was hoping Stirling would play through and really make a mark on the game but the wiley leg-break of Josh Poysden led to his downfall, stumped for 42. No panic yet.

In came Morgan and there were quite a few comments about reverse sweeps and a few knowing looks. I didn`t think it was too relevant until, uh oh, he has only played that shot again, bowled for three. Getting a little nervous now.

Berg added some gusto to the chase. He had looked very miffed in the field earlier as his continuous stretches didn`t seem to take the eye of Dex. He even booted one of the field markers 20 metres in frustration but still he was The Invisible Man.

From my expert position about 100 metres from the action I can safely say that Berg was never out, shocking decision. 118 for 4, squeaky bum time.

Denly was looking very assured and despite the now growing band of Unicorn Supporters/Rent-a-crowd voicing their joy, we surely wouldn`t blow this.

How can I put a positive spin on this?

Dexter departed and I was quite pleased for Luke Beaven as one of my fellow Reading inhabitants. 127 for 5 wasn`t quite as pleasing though.

The dual spin of Poysden and Beaven had Middlesex completely tied down and added further credence to my Ravi moans of earlier. Beaven bowled Denly and at 140 for 6 this suddenly had the feel of a very tense cup final. I didn`t expect this excitement but it was thrilling stuff if not slightly bad cricket from Middlesex.

I still felt like we would win from here but Rayner and TRJ entered and left the stage sharpish. 168 for 8, the atmosphere had become very tense and even a single was greeted with much acclaim.

Amongst all this carnage John Simpson was heroically ploughing on regardless. Only the split webbing of Rosso allowed him to be gracing this stage but how he was taking the opportunity. Harris hung around without ever looking comfortable but the wonderfully named Skidmore removed him for 2 and we were in all manner of trouble.

I`ve run out of ideas

Finn strode to the crease and for some bizarre reason I still thought we would win it. There were a few very dodgy runs and there must have been three or four run-out attempts but the total runs needed kept coming down.

The pivotal moment of the game was now upon us with four runs needed for the win. Last ball of the 39^th over.  Good shot played from Simpson, could it be a four, no, hang on, they are running for a third. OUT! Oh no, we have lost by a run, hang on, the umpire hasn`t given it, scores tied.

Well done Simmo and Finny

Once again from my expert position Simmo looked like he had clearly not made his ground. The umpires disagreed though and Simmo gratefully accepted the reprieve and grabbed the single off the first ball of the last over. What drama, a walk in the Park (pun intended) had turned into a thrilling game and will rank as one of the best games I have seen live. Four more wins including the Semi and we can have another dramatic Lords cup final.

On the way out of the ground we stumbled upon the rarest Unicorn of them all, a 6 feet plus one. Dominic Reed was mournfully relaying some information to his family and gave us the MTWD exclusive that it was he who attempted the run out of Simmo. The umpires had concluded that Simmo hadn`t made his ground but that Reed had dislodged the bails with his hand before the ball was in it. He was Adam Ant that this was not the case and was distraught. So there you go, on such fine margins.