Samit good for Notts while Jake has a Ball

London Leprechaun gives us a report on an interesting day at Trent Bridge with one mad over overshadowing a largely good day for Middlesex.  And in case you are wondering there was no need to rant about the over rate.

I had a nice smooth journey to Nottingham, thanks to hi speed train from Stratford and East Midland trains. Even time to admire an interesting piece of modern art at St Pancras station. Called train of thought it seemed somehow appropriate as this match could take us on a very happy journey. Only downside is that I forgot about the 10.30 start when I booked my train so I missed the first forty five minutes or so and spent most of the journey travelling through cloud which was a little worrying. Although my trusty weather app was quite reassuring

Get news of an uncontested toss via Twitter and good to see that Finny is playing and Murts as well. Now I just want my wicket alert to start going. Maybe I should add Yorkshire to the alerts as well for the next couple of weeks.

Radio reception on the train is surprisingly good so I got the good news of an early Murts wicket. And shortly after a Yorkshire wicket. But then they have been losing wickets early all season.

Having discovered that buses from Nottingham station are distinctively easier to find then at Birmingham New Street, I got to the ground to find the second wicket had gone down in between getting off the bus and getting into the ground. So far so good.

Now many of you will have been watching the live stream; great idea Notts; and or listening to the radio commentary so I will spare you full details. But from where I was sitting in the Hound Road upper stand my sense of the day was that we bowled doggedly without there being a sense of a wicket imminent every ball. It was nice to see Finny looking fit and bowling with rhythm and a bit of fire. Notts batted conservatively but it looked like a wicket you could survive on. Wickets when they came, especially in the afternoon seemed to come a bit out of the blue but Gubbo, twice, and Murts clung onto sharp, unexpected chances. Samit Patel seemed to show the way to bat with positive intent throughout his innings. He was the only one the Notts supporters didn't seem to want to get rid of. At least until he lost focus after a well made century and hoicked Finny straight down Dawid Malan's throat.

The Notts last wicket stand was fun as neither Imran Tahir - hands up if you remember him - nor Gurney could agree which of them needed more protection.  Problem solved by another slog to the deep.

Notts supporters were gloomy and grumpy in turn and seemed resigned to relegation. At least that was their mood until that one mad over when we batted. I guess that will make most of the headlines so in case you want to relive it:

• Jake Ball got Robbo to nick one to slip – it happens to opening batsmen;
• Rayner came in as a night watchman: seven overs seemed a long time for a night watchman; gets first lbw of the whole day.
• Compo took an age to come in; Notts supporters started slow handclapping and calling for him to be timed out.  As soon as he is in (within the time limit) he calls for gloves! So was it lack of concentration or a good ball that got him. Who knows.  Notts celebrate like they have won the Championship. 
• Middlesex in the shape of Mala and Gubbo put their sensible heads on and batted out the remaining overs with relative calm.

Everyone took a deep breath.  The walk back to the station gave time to reflect that one mad over does not define our season; we have only lost two proper batsmen; the weather forecast is good for tomorrow and we have shown a lot of resilience this season.  And at least it was not as mad a day as at Taunton.  And the last time we were 0/3 we won the match!