Middlesex shipped 42 runs in the last three overs as their hopes of a home draw in the T20 Blast quarter-finals were dashed.
Ashar Zaidi did the damage, with a spectacular 59 not out from 24 balls to all but ensure Essex join Middlesex in the last eight.
In front of another vocal crowd at Lord’s, this time of 26,336, Zaidi single-handedly took the home side’s attack apart in a thrilling finish.
From a position of strength, Middlesex were left feeling they had come up short when making 126-5 in a match reduced to 16 overs per side due to early evening rain.
Dawid Malan had made 68 not out from 51 balls as he batted through the innings, but found little in the way of support once fellow opener Nick Gubbins had fallen for 13.
They had put on 49 for the first wicket, however James Franklin, George Bailey and John Simpson all fell cheaply to lofted drives into the deep, while Ryan Higgins tried a curious reverse flip to the first ball he faced and was bowled.
Late acceleration was provided by Toby Roland-Jones, who drove the first two balls of the final over for four, to boost the Middlesex total.
Essex’s chase began badly as Jesse Ryder skied the third ball of the innings to mid off and Tom Westley swung Roland-Jones to deep mid-wicket to leave the visitors 10-2 in the third over.
Dan Lawrence’s 36 gave them impetus but when he was out, Essex were 90-5 with three overs left.
Zaidi, with little to lose, swiped Ryan Higgins for six and four before launching a memorable assault on Roland-Jones in a penultimate over that cost the fast bowler 20 runs.
Fittingly, he won it in style by lofting Steven Finn straight into the Pavilion for his fifth six.
This post was last modified on 28/07/2016