The Trent Bridge Take, delivered by Ambassador Cruise Line, is our alternative view of proceedings at the Metro Bank Cup Final.
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Ebb and flow.
Three words often used to describe the joys of the 50-over game – a format which allows time for momentum to shift and conditions to change, all with the promise of a result on the day.
Indeed, if the perfect one-day contest could be designed, it wouldn’t be all too dissimilar to this summer’s Metro Bank One Day Cup Final.
A pitch which provided a balance between bat and ball, two centuries, a five-wicket haul, and a target of 232 which was always achievable, but kept both sides interested throughout.
And it was played out in an atmosphere befitting a final.
The crowd, the second-largest since the List A showpiece moved to Trent Bridge, had partisan pockets aplenty.
Middlesex supporters congregated in the Hound Road Lower Tier, while the Foxes faithful – hearty chants, taxidermy fox and all – favoured the Acrisure Stand.
And they were treated to a game which hardly let them pause for breath.
The fifth over encapsulated the early exchanges: a textbook cover drive from Josh de Caires followed by a Ben Green delivery which beat him all ends up.
For a while thereafter, it felt like a bowler’s paradise.
Nominally the away side, Middlesex found themselves under pressure as a well-backed Foxes team took five wickets in the space of 15 overs.
At 71/5 after 21.1, the obituaries for the Londoners were being written – alongside the plaudits for Ben Cox, with the Foxes keeper taking five catches, including a stunner down the leg-side to remove de Caires.
But Harry Duke and Ryan Higgins transferred the pressure back onto the East Midlanders, Duke following up 40 at almost a run-a-ball in the semi-final with 55 in the showpiece.
He and Higgins rotated strike beautifully – with the occasional drive, sweep and scoop thrown in – to haul their side towards a competitive total.
A 135-run partnership turned the tide somewhat, but an eventual total of 231 felt somewhat under par.
And as Leicestershire’s openers plundered 28 from the first four overs, the fate of the final began to feel a formality.
But in the space of 13 balls, 29/0 became 34/3, and the Foxes were floundering.
They remained ahead of the required run-rate, but found the truly game-changing overs hard to come by.
Toby Roland-Jones, 38 years young, bowled ten consecutive overs of the utmost accuracy to keep Leicestershire on a leash, with only New Zealand international Nick Kelly offering any great resistance.
His century, from 138 balls, was a masterclass in composed chasing – a fourth score of over 50 in this year’s tournament.
But that composure soon proved in short supply. Ian Holland’s ill-advised charge down the track resulted in a stumping, Ben Green’s pull shot found the hands of de Caires, before Kelly himself holed out at midwicket to leave Leicestershire 188/8 and in bother.
From then on, this was a coronation for the North Londoners. Zafar Gohar snaffled a stunner at point to remove Tom Helm, before Tom Scriven hit Naavya Sharma skyward, the ball lingered in the West Bridgford sky for what felt like an age, and Ben Geddes took the crucial catch.
For his match-shaping century, Higgins was deservedly the player of the match; but in Helm, Sharma and Roland-Jones, it was Middlesex’s stable of seamers who truly secured the spoils.
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