Beaten Middlesex lose ground on leaders

Middlesex 249 & 240 lost to Derbyshire 385 & 160 by 56 runs
(Derbyshire 23 pts, Middlesex 4 pts)

Middlesex lost ground on County Championship leaders Yorkshire as they slumped to defeat at Derby.

Gareth Berg’s 71 helped the visitors recover from a seemingly hopeless position after they had been reduced to 121-7 chasing 297 to win.

Another fine unbeaten knock from Ollie Rayner (46 not out) took Middlesex to within 57 runs but he ran out of support as Derbyshire sealed only their second win of the season.

Earlier on Friday, Yorkshire thrashed Nottinghamshire to extend their advantage at the top of Division One to 33 points, with four matches to play.

Having lost two wickets late on Thursday, Middlesex began the final day on 25-2, needing 272 more runs to pull off a victory.

Sam Robson and Adam Voges chalked 36 off the target before Robson was bowled by Tim Groenewald.

They were then reduced to 85-5 when Mark Footitt removed Eoin Morgan and Neil Dexter in the space of three balls.

The patient Voges just missed out on a half century and when John Simpson fell, Middlesex were in heaps of trouble at 121-7.

However, Berg and Rayner kept the scoreboard ticking over and scored 14 boundaries between them in a stand of 85 which threatened to haul them back into the match.

However, the momentum began to swing back in Derbyshire’s favour when Berg was caught for 71.

Rayner and Toby Roland-Jones added another 30 before the latter was caught behind, with Middlesex still 61 short.

With the tea break delayed, Tim Murtagh was the last man to fall as Derbyshire celebrated an impressive win that lifts them off the foot of the table.

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