Match report day 1: Middx v Lancs in Championship 2004 by Neil Adams

Scorecard:

Summary for Day 1

Umpires Barry Dudleston and Graham Burgess were kept very busy during the first days play of this county championship encounter between Middlesex and Lancashire. In total, seven leg before decisions were upheld from the 12 wickets which fell. Only Mark Chilton's decision could have been queried, the rest were all absolutely plumb.

Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat. Mark Chilton was first out in the fifth over. He looks distinctly uncomfortable against the new ball at the moment. Perhaps he should be dropped down the order to number 5/6 - a position from which he excelled last season. Sutcliffe was dropped in the gully by Shah on 17. He hit the next ball for a boundary, and then top edged a wide delivery from Hayward straight down the throat of Kluesner at third man (26-2). Loye and Law added 78 runs for the third wicket without any real trouble. In the 26th over, Hutchison snapped up the wickets of Law and Hooper in successive balls to turn the tide in favour of the hosts - both leg before wicket. Either side of Lunch, Loye and Chapple maintained a healthy scoring rate.

With the score on 193 for 4 disaster struck for Lancashire. 5 wickets fell for just 10 runs within the space of 5 overs. This included the wicket of Mal Loye for 101. Suddenly, the first batting point seemed a long way off. Hegg and Keedy added 33 useful runs for the last wicket. Hegg cleverly protected Keedy, and at one stage hit three consecutive boundaries. Lancashire were eventually dismissed for 236 runs in the 69th over.

Dominic Cork shared the new ball with Glen Chapple. In his first over, he trapped Keonig leg before wicket for 3 (3-1), and in his second over, Ben Hutton (4) fell the same way (10-2). Carl Hooper failed to hold a low chance to his right at second slip in the 8th over and Hegg failed to hold the ball in the 11th over (A full length dive to his left - a one handed attempt). Both Shah and Joyce made good of their respective let-offs. By the time bad light forced play to finish 18 overs early, Middlesex found themselves back in control on 78 for 2. However, Lancashire will still fancy that they can capture quick wickets on the second morning as the pitch is clearly offering some assistance and occasional uneven bounce.

Key Notes of the Day

Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat
Chilton lbw bowled Keegan 2 - 8 for in the 5th over - Sutcliffe 6*
Sutcliffe 17 dropped by Shah in the gully - 22 for 1 in the 10th over - Loye 3*
Sutcliffe caught Kluesner bowled Hayward 21 (Third Man) - 26 for 2 in the 10th over - Loye 3*
51 for 2 in the 14th over - Loye 22* Law 4*
50 partnership - 76 for 2 in the 19th - Loye 29* Law 22*
Law 27 edge between 1st & 2nd slip (Chance) - 82 for 2 in the 22nd over - Loye 30*
100 for 2 in the 25th over - Loye 43* Law 32*
Law lbw bowled Hutchison 33 - 104 for 3 in the 26th over - Loye 46*
Hooper lbw bowled Hutchison 0 (First ball) - 104 for 4 in the 26th over - Loye 46*
50 Loye from 86 balls (5 x 4 & 1 x 6) - 109 for 4 in the 1st over - Chapple 0*
Lunch 115 for 4 in the 33rd over - Loye 51* Chapple 4*
152 for 4 in the 39th over - Loye 72* Chapple 20*
50 partnership - 155 for 4 in the 40th over - Loye 75* Chapple 20*
100 Loye from 154 balls (14 x 4 & 1 x 6) - 193 for 4 in the 52nd over - Chapple 32*
Chapple bowled Keegan 32 (Off stump)- 193 for 5 in the 53rd over - Loye 101*
Loye caught Shah bowled Keegan 101 (Chipped to mid-on) - 194 for 6 in the 53rd over - Hogg 1*
Cork lbw bowled Keegan 0 (Second ball) - 194 for 7 in the 53rd over - Hogg 1*
Hogg bowled Hayward 1 - 194 for 8 in the 54th over - Hegg 0*
200 for 8 in the 55th over - Hegg 3* Mahmood 3*
Mahmood lbw bowled Keegan 5 - 203 for 9 in the 57th over - Hegg 4*
Hegg caught Joyce bowled Kluesner 36 - 236 all out in the 69th over - Keedy 1*
Middlesex over rate minus 3

Keonig lbw bowled Cork 3 - 3 for 1 in the 2nd over - Hutton 0*
Hutton lbw bowled Cork 4 - 10 for 2 in the 4th over - Shah 3*
Shah 23 dropped by Hooper at second slip - 31 for 2 in the 8th over - Joyce 1*
Joyce 6 dropped by Hegg (Tough chance) - 37 for 2 in the 11th over - Shah 23*
50 for 2 in the 12th over - Shah 24* Joyce 16*
50 partnership - 62 for 2 in the 14th over - Shah 32* Joyce 20*
Bad light stop play 5.58pm - 78 for 2 from 18 overs - Shah 34* Joyce 32* - 18 overs left
Middlesex 3 points, Lancashire 1 point