Stunned by the pace of the wicket, Middlesex made heavy work of the opening overs, with both Hutton and Weekes failing to make contact with the ball on several occasions. Neither managed to make too much of an impact thereafter as both fell fairly cheaply, Runs seemed to be a scarce on this wicket, but Shah’s patience bought a deserved reward as he batted through the innings to make a century in his continued return to form. He was ably supported by the rest of the middle order as Jamie Dalrymple (26) and Nick Compton (33) both shared in important stands with the ex-skipper. The final total of 216-4 was not greeted spectacularly by many of the supporters, but it was soon realised that the Middlesex batsmen had infact done a very good job to reach it.

Scotland fought hard and the opening overs in their innings were a much different story. Runs were coming easily and Nantie Hayward’s inaccurate bowling was not doing the ‘sex any favours. Hayward was promptly brought off after just one over, a decision that paid off for captain Ben Hutton as new bowler Simon Cook reaped the rewards straight away, taking a wicket in his first over, on his way to 3-18 off 7 good overs. Some good fielding from Dutchman Daan Van Bunge saw English run out and then Hutton and Paul Weekes combined to take the last four wickets as the sorry Saltires were bowled out for 89. To make matters even worse for the visitors, Indian star Sri Sriram was forced to retire hurt after being struck on the elbow by a Nantie Hayward delivery.

With 2 wins in 2 days, Middlesex are now 8 points clear at the top of the table and must consolidate this form in the push for promotion to the top flight.

SCORES

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