Stoneman, Fernandes star as Middlesex hunt down 318 at Radlett

With a victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Radlett, Mark Stoneman and Nathan Fernandes shared a stand of 128 to launch Middlesex’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign.

With 83 runs between them, the left-handed pair led the home team in scoring until Jack Davies (31 not out from 17 deliveries) and Martin Andersson (35 not out from 23 balls) finished the job with 11 deliveries remaining.

For the Steelbacks, Justin Broad hit an unbeaten 38 from just 20 at the end of the innings to help his team record 317 for nine. Gus Miller struck a career-best 73 from 68, while Prithvi Shaw and Saif Zaib also scored half-centuries.

The visitors, who now trail Middlesex at the bottom of Group A following three straight losses, could not overcome Broad’s three for sixty-five, which included two wickets in as many balls.

After winning the toss and being picked to bat, Emilio Gay and Ricardo Vasconcelos both fell victim to fast left-armer Noah Cornwell’s (two for 54) early wickets, which dealt the Steelbacks an early blow.

However, Shaw quickly found his rhythm, smashing a number of boundaries and removing Ishaan Kaushal for the game’s first six as he raced to his half-century from 33 deliveries.

Following a partnership of 77 runs with George Bartlett, the India international (76 from 58) fell out in quick succession, both players replicating strokes they had been lucky to get away with earlier, allowing Josh de Caires to increase his career total of catches to three.

Lewis McManus soon had a fourth wicket for De Caires when he drove Henry Brookes to mid-off, but Northamptonshire’s sixth-wicket duo steadily reassembled, Miller being the more aggressive as he hammered the ball with clean and powerful strikes.

After reaching 50, Miller slog-swept Luke Hollman over the fence and later on in the over, he cut him to backward point, and Zaib, who had taken an hour to locate the boundary, also started to pick up speed.

Even though Zaib was out for 58, Broad’s late burst of effort propelled the Steelbacks past the 300-mark, with Brookes’ last over going for 22.

Joe Cracknell and De Caires both reached 50 in the eighth over, but Miller’s first-ever wicket came when the latter was pinned in front. Middlesex started their reply quickly.

As he got closer to what would have been his second half-century in as many games, Cracknell (49 from 52) seemed to slow down. Broad then produced a delivery that pushed back Sam Robson’s off stump.

At 90 for three, Middlesex required a significant partnership. Stoneman led his partnership with Fernandes, controlling the strike and neatly luring Raphy Weatherall to the fence so that Weatherall could achieve his half-century at a run a ball.

The necessary rate increased to more than eight an over, even though Stoneman was hitting the boundary with regularity. Middlesex’s hopes were dashed when the captain chopped on to Broad with 100 needed.

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But Fernandes took control at the bat, hitting Zaib for three straight fours before he was caught in deep. To seal the victory, Davies hammered 20 off Broad’s last over before clipping Weatherall for another boundary.