Having endured a woeful third day when control of the match shifted from their grasp, Middlesex were unable to claw back the situation and slipped to a very disappointing defeat. To make matters worse, they were deducted half a Championship point after finishing the match one over behind the required bowling rate.

Beginning the day needing another 161 runs with seven wickets in hand, Warwickshire suffered a setback within the first fifteen minutes when Nick Knight edged a lifter from Stuart Clark. Ben Scott could only parry the chance but Owais Shah reacted instinctively to snaffle the loose ball at first slip.

Loudon continued to play positively though, looking to continue the Bears’ brave gameplan which had reaped considerable reward the previous evening. It was that bold approach, however, which kept Middlesex in the game. First, Neil Carter, sent in no doubt to up the tempo even further, was taken comfortably by Ed Smith at fine leg after the batsman had top-edged a pull off Clark. Then, with 103 still required, Warwickshire lost their sixth wicket when Tony Frost thrashed wildly at a cut stroke off Mel Betts and the same fielder pouched a fine catch running round at third man.

Middlesex suddenly sensed a chance to overpower their opponents, but sadly their weakened bowling attack was unable to penetrate for long enough periods. Warwickshire, to their credit, made sure the scoreboard was ticking over, and in the lead up to lunch Ben Hutton elected to bowl Chris Peploe and Jamie Dalrymple in tandem, in an attempt to pull back his side’s negative bowling rate which had risen to minus 4.

In that time Peploe did manage to pick up the important scalp of the stubborn Dougie Brown, caught by Ed Joyce at silly point, but in Luke Parker Warwickshire would seem to have found a mature player capable of forming a vital partnership. He accompanied Loudon to see the visitors to 340-7 at lunch, only 42 runs short of their target.

Both players were relatively untroubled after the restart, despite a wholehearted effort by Betts against his old club, and a Shah no ball saw the Bears home.

Middlesex will feel they let themselves down after contriving to lose such a position of promise, and this defeat means Championship Division One tightens up even more.

Day 3:

Jim Troughton hit 119 from 116 deliveries to put Warwickshire in poll position, chasing 382 to win. Middlesex were bowled out for 330 in their second innings.

Having resumed on 155/1, Hutton and Shah picked up where they left off. Hutton eventually fell to Pretorious for 92 but Shah was in superbe form, hitting an unbeaten 156. However he was not supported by his team mates at all, with only Joyce (11) and Weekes (17) getting into double figures.

Needing 382, Warwickshire didn't get off to a good start. Peter Trego took two wickets in two balls removing Westwood and Trott. However Troughton lashed out punishing Middlesex before being removed late on by Jamie Dalrymple for 119. Warwickshire closed on 221/3, 161 short of the target.

Day 2:

An unbroken second-wicket stand of 117 between Ben Hutton and Owais Shah put Middlesex in a strong position as the hosts finished 155-1, a lead of 206.

The morning started well with Stuart Clark dismissing ex Kent, Alex Loudon and then caught behind from a touch of Tony Frost to complete a five-wicket haul. However, their last 4 wickets like ours, which included 92 for Dougie Brown, allowed them to gain more runs than anticipated and then the enforcing of the follow on was not an option. There were useful, contributions from Luke Parker, Ntini and Pretoroius to allow Warks to creep up to 272, 51 behind.     

After losing Ed Smith for 21 caught again at 2nd slip, Ben Hutton made it to 78 not out, his best score of the season, while Owais Shah passed a 1,000 runs for the season  with 51 not out. Both played aggressively with the intention of hopefully a declaration by tea with Warks out of sight.

Day 1:

Paul Weekes' 92 not out rescued Middlesex as they fought back to score 323, after being 139 for six. Then Stuart Clark bowled a devastating spell taking three for 29 as Warwickshire were reduced to 62 for four at the close.

Middx got off to worse possible start. Ntini with the first ball of day on his Warwickshire debut had Ed Smith caught at slip, chasing a very wide ball.

Ben Hutton (49) and Owais Shah (63) put on 117 for the second wicket scoring at 5 an over before Hutton was trapped leg before by Loudon. Shah was scoring a run a ball before he was run out by Knight going for a dangerous single when on 999 for season. Then Jamie Dalrymple and Ben Scott were dismissed without adding a run and suddenly we are on 134 -6 from 117-1.

Peter Trego (26), Chris Peploe (23) and Mel Betts (30) managed to support Weekes (92*) on our recovery as our last four wickets added 184. Three out of our last 4 wicket stands put on 50+ and we added a crucial 71 for the last wicket. Shame Weekes missed out on a deserved ton.

Clark and Betts opening spell destroyed Warwickshire in their reply. Betts dismissed Westwood leg before for a duck.  Then Clark took over with an amazing spell. Trott was superbly caught by Scott off an inside edge before cleaning up Troughton and crucially Knight in quick succession. Weekes missed two chances at 2nd slip so Clark relied on hitting the stumps to get wickets.

Middlesex end day 1 in a strong position in a day that where there were fluctuating fortunes and I can't help feeling there is further stings to this tail. 

Please click here for the scorecard for this match

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