Cricket

Malan fires Middlesex to win in four-run thriller


Middlesex 92-3 (9 ov): Malan 53*, Simpson 26*; van der Merwe 1-4
Somerset 88-6 (9 ov): Van der Merwe 17*; Fuller 2-18, Sowter 1-12
Middlesex (2 pts) beat Somerset (0 pts) by four runs

Dawid Malan hit 53 not out from 28 balls as Middlesex won a thrilling T20 Blast match reduced to nine overs per side by bad weather.

Malan was joined by John Simpson in a blazing unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 52 in 22 balls to haul Middlesex up to 92-3.

Earlier, Brendan McCullum – in his first and only appearance at Lord’s in his short stint at Middlesex – scored only seven, while Paul Stirling (1) and James Franklin (0) also fell cheaply.

In reply, Somerset captain Jim Allenby made 17, Johann Myburgh was superbly held by a diving Steven Finn at wide long-on for 12 and Mahela Jayawardene fell for a first-ball duck when he was spectacularly caught by Paul Stirling.

Peter Trego hit three fours in his 14 before being bowled by leg-spinner Nathan Sowter, while Roelof van der Merwe finished unbeaten on 17, as the visitors failed to get the 13 they needed off the last over.

This post was last modified on 24/06/2016

Andrew Raeburn
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Andrew Raeburn