Middlesex claimed the Metro Bank One Day Cup by beating Leicestershire Foxes, ending a 36-year run without a List A trophy. Ryan Higgins posted a maiden century, and the match was a low-scoring affair at Trent Bridge. Toby Roland-Jones and pace prospect Naayva Sharma combined to take wickets in a tight finish, with Middlesex winning by 31 runs.
Harry Duke’s 55 supported Higgins’ superb 115-ball century, the pair’s first in List A cricket, and together they built a 135-run sixth-wicket partnership. Middlesex were 71-5 before Higgins and Duke guided them to 231 all out. Foxes all-rounder Ian Holland took 5-36, while wicketkeeper Ben Cox took five catches. Both players made their first appearances for Middlesex in this year’s competition.
Leicestershire fought back through Nick Kelly, who hit 103 from 107 balls. Kelly’s century came from a base of 79-5, but Tom Helm’s late spell saw him take 3-32 and claim the vital wicket that ended the chase. The Foxes were bowled out for 200, 31 runs short of the target.
Higgins and Duke Steer Middlesex to 231
Middlesex found themselves in early difficulty. They fell to 32-3 in the 11th over and 71-5 in the 22nd, with all five wickets taken by Cox. Holland dismissed Max Holden in the same manner that Nathan Fernandes slashed at one, and Tom Scriven found a thin edge to remove skipper Ben Geddes for a duck.
Josh De Caires was caught out by a brilliant leg-side grab, while Luke Hollman was done for a first-ball googly from Rehan Ahmed, with Cox cheering once more. Duke, who is on loan from Yorkshire as a stand-in for the hurt Joe Cracknell, helped out Higgins. He reached an upper edge to extra cover, closing his innings when the ball failed to clear long-on as he aimed for a 10th boundary.
The Leicestershire innings almost exactly mirrored that of Middlesex. They slipped to 32-3 and 79-5, with Sharma dismissing Foxes captain and former Middlesex batter Stephen Eskinazi, caught at second slip. Hamza Shaikh was leg before, and veteran Roland-Jones had Rishi Patel caught at deep square leg.
Ahmed was dismissed leg before, and Cox was caught behind, both falling to Roland-Jones. Leicestershire required a player to match Higgins’ performance, and Kelly responded. He did not waste chances, reaching 50 from 52 balls with six fours and a pick-up for six off Sharma while he and Holland added 50 for the sixth wicket.
The exit of Ben Green added to the strain, with the 57 still outstanding. Kelly hammered Zafar down the ground for more sixes twice, reaching 100 from 103 balls. He then needed treatment for cramp before pulling Helm straight to deep square. Ajaz Patel fell to a stunning catch at backward point by Zafar off Helm, before Scriven was the last man to go, caught at mid-off.
Fielding Performance That Won the Cup
In an impressive performance in the field, Toby Roland-Jones (3-27) showed his quality. Twenty-one-year-old pace prospect Naayva Sharma (3-37) finished as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 20.
Middlesex have claimed their first List A final triumph since they defeated Derbyshire to take the 1990 Refuge Assurance Cup. Leicestershire were looking to ease the sting of a points cut in the Rothesay County Championship, which places a second division stay almost beyond doubt, by winning a second Metro Bank trophy within four seasons. That ambition ended in disappointment.
Put in, Middlesex were 32-3 in the 11th over and five down in the 22nd, with all snared by the immaculate Cox.
The Sequence of the Final
| Event | Middlesex | Leicestershire |
|---|---|---|
| Score when wickets fell | 231 all out | 200 all out |
| Runs added by key pair | 135-run sixth-wicket stand | 50 for the sixth wicket |
| Century makers | Ryan Higgins (115) | Nick Kelly (103) |
| Key wicket takers | Tom Helm (3-32), Naayva Sharma (3-37) | Ian Holland (5-36) |
| Total runs added | 135 | 50 |
What the Win Means for Middlesex
Middlesex waited a long while for a trophy, and this one finally ended their wait. Their last List A final win came in 1990, when they beat Derbyshire to lift the Refuge Assurance Cup. Against a background of turmoil off the field, this was their first title in that format since then.
The result provides a foundation for improvement, and fans will look back on Higgins’ first century as the standout moment long after the match concluded.
See the video the story is built around at Sky Sports.
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