Captain Haseeb Hameed hit a sumptuous 114 but saw his valiant Notts Outlaws side narrowly squeezed out in a 27-run defeat to Middlesex in a high-scoring clash at Grantham.

Hameed’s knock came off 118 balls and contained 13 fours and a six as he, alongside 90 from Ben Slater, underpinned the Outlaws’ chase of Middlesex’s 354 all out.

That had been posted thanks to centuries from Stephen Eskinazi and Sam Robson despite the best efforts of Zak Chappell – who led the way with 3-75 – Brett Hutton, James Hayes, and Dane Paterson.

Fateh Singh’s late 45 off 22 balls then put the Outlaws within touching distance of a sparkling chase, but Hameed’s dismissal with 38 still needed proved pivotal as they fell just short, reaching 328 all out.

Earlier, Hameed had won the toss and opted to bowl first, with the Gorse Lane venue presenting the unique situation of the pitch appearing rather greener than the outfield.

There was early joy for Brett Hutton as he pinned Mark Stoneman lbw playing across the line for 29 in the fifth over of the day, but Robson and Eskinazi seized the initiative with a partnership of 234.

Their stand lasted 189 deliveries as both went to their centuries, with Eskinazi’s 135 his third century in a row and the top score of the Middlesex innings.

However, from 269/1 in the 36th over, the Outlaws hit back strongly to rein their visitors back in as they threatened to rack up an altogether bigger score.

Hutton bowled Robson for 103 before Paterson ensured the same fate befell Eskinazi, either side of Chappell’s removal of Pieter Malan, and Hayes then saw off Max Holden for 13.

Joe Cracknell was then pinned lbw by young spinner Fateh Singh before Hayes and Paterson each took their respective second wickets with the departures of Luke Hollman and Umesh Yadav, as Middlesex lost 7/68.

Chappell polished off the innings with the scalps of Martin Andersson and Toby Greatwood to curtail the Middlesex innings with two balls left, and Outlaws had reason to smile at their bowling in the closing stages.

In response, Sol Budinger blasted 25 off 14 in a bid to get the hosts off to a fast start, and Slater and Hameed took up the mantle with a similarly sizeable partnership of their own.

Their third-wicket stand was worth 181 and lasted for just shy of 30 overs as both scored at strikingly similar rates, with Hameed following Slater to fifty inside the space of 20 minutes.

Slater was agonisingly denied a century when caught off the bowling of Robson, but Hameed continued to provide the cement binding the innings together, and together with Singh, overcame a middle-order stutter.

Singh struck eight fours in his stay at the crease to more than double his career tally of List A runs, but his departure was followed by Hameed as the total proved just out of the Outlaws’ reach.

A lusty blow from Dane Paterson gave the hosts hope of a narrow triumph, but his was the final dismissal, at the hands of four-wicket Yadav as Notts fell just short in a titanic battle.

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