Roland-Jones and Franklin star in Middlesex win
Middlesex 219-8 (50 ov): Franklin 55, Robson 41; Lawrence 3-35
Essex 215-9 (50 ov): Browne 79; Roland-Jones 4-40, Franklin 3-25
Middlesex (2 pts) beat Essex (0 pts) by four runs
Toby Roland-Jones’ best List A bowling figures and a significant contribution by skipper James Franklin guided Middlesex to a tight victory in the Royal London One-Day Cup at Lord’s.
Sam Robson’s 41 had got the home side off to a solid start, but Essex responded with tight bowling and timely wickets to leave Middlesex on 101-4 at halfway.
Boundaries were hard to come by – in a stand of 62, Franklin and John Simpson managed only three between them.
Middlesex did accelerate late on, scoring 52 runs – virtually a quarter of their total – in the final six overs, helped by Franklin’s late push which took him to 55.
In reply, Essex began chasing down the runs swiftly, knocking off 54 in the first nine overs and reaching 100-1 before Franklin removed Jesse Ryder, the first of his three wickets.
He then bowled top scorer Nick Browne for 79, a crucial blow at the 30-over mark, and the visitors’ middle-order firepower was blunted, leaving them needing 56 with 10 overs left.
That was when Roland-Jones took centre stage. He removed Ryan ten Doeschate (19), Ravi Bopara (34) and Graham Napier (1) in consecutive overs, checking any progress Essex were making.
They needed 30 from the last 18 balls, and Ashar Zaidi (21 from 20) briefly threatened to repeat his heroics from Thursday’s T20 match, but Franklin returned to trap him lbw in a final over that clinched the match.
