All posts by csb10.top

Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews, said Kusal Mendis’ batting and Rangana Herath’s “all-round” performances constituted the positives from the 2-0 Test series defeat against England. He was, however, non-committal on the struggling Lahiru Thirimanne’s continued place in the Test XI.Herath claimed seven wickets at an average of 43.28, and also hit 109 runs from No. 8 in the series. “Herath was superb,” Mathews said. “He is 38 and he has backed the team with his all-round ability. He is even throwing himself all over the field. It was good to see the oldest man diving around and stopping boundaries.”Mendis made the team’s lone half-century at Headingley, and hit 156 runs at an average of 31.20, with a strike rate of 65.27, through the series. Mathews said Mendis had earned a long run in the No. 3 position.”If we pick someone, we need to give him a fair opportunity and be patient with him. We don’t want to chop and change people. We need to find the best possible combination. When you identify a guy with skill and talent you need to persevere with him.”Thirimanne, meanwhile, had only hit one fifty in his previous 12 innings before the tour, but played all three Tests in England – perhaps on the strength of domestic performances, which have been consistently excellent. However, he mustered a highest score of 22 in five innings in England, and now averages 24.00 after 50 Test innings overall.Mathews had described him as the “best batsman” in the team before the tour, but said “we haven’t decided on certain positions” when asked about Thirimanne’s performance in the series.”This is a challenging tour for all the batsmen,” he said. “I don’t want to mention one particular player. We all have to take responsibility. Apart from Chandimal, no one was able to score a hundred here, and I don’t want to let anyone down. We have to be a close unit and we have to keep working hard. We haven’t made a decision on the No. 4 position.”Having folded for 91, 119 and 101 in the first three innings of the series, Mathews lauded the top order’s relative return to runs in the second innings at Chester-le-Street, and then at Lord’s. Sri Lanka’s highest score of the series was the 475 in the second innings of the second Test, and though they lost five wickets for 43 runs on the third day at Lord’s, managed totals of 288 and 78 for 1.”This was a good learning experience for all of us,” he said. “We are a young team and we don’t have much experience. The way the guys fought facing Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in challenging conditions was good to see. The way they batted and they showed lot of guts – it was brilliant. If we play together as a unit we can improve further. We played pretty well in the second innings in Durham. At Lord’s, too, we were sitting pretty and then lost a heap of wickets on day three.”Mathews also echoed coach Graham Ford’s words on day four, and said Sri Lanka would have attempted to chase down the target of 362, had the weather allowed a full day’s play on Monday.

ScorecardSimon Harmer did the hard yards on the third day. On the fourth, gifts were bestowed upon him. For Harmer, it all added up to his career-best figures of 8 for 36, and 14 for 128 in the match. For Warwickshire, dismissed for 94, it added up to a whole lot of trouble.While Essex strengthened their hold at the top of Division One, Warwickshire are marooned with Somerset at the bottom, 40 points away from safety. Defeat by an innings and 164 runs underlined the extent of their challenge and, soon after the finish, their coaching team were huddled in earnest conversation.As Harmer took the last wicket, in a hospitality box overlooking the ground Mohammad Amir confidently predicted that he could help Essex win the Championship. Neil Wagner departed with a magnum of champagne and public thanks during a lunchtime celebration – a sign that Essex are doing the small things well – and, in Amir, they have quite a replacement.Ryan ten Doeschate, Essex’s captain, was delighted with his side’s response so soon after their last-over defeat in the Royal London Cup semi-final against Nottinghamshire. “Obviously Friday’s defeat was massively disappointing, but it was up to us to bounce back and the Championship is vitally important,” he said.Bouncebackability owed much to Essex’s first-innings batting, but it was ultimately down to Harmer. A switch of ends, a decision made late in Warwickshire’s first innings, and a harder ball, both contributed to faster turn than he had achieved the previous day and Warwickshire succumbed shortly after lunch.”We didn’t think the wicket was going to turn all that much, hence we only played one spinner,” said ten Doeschate. “Harmi is a turning spinner and there is not much more you can say about 14 wickets in the match. It was great for Harmi – he has predominantly done the holding job for the first six games of the year so to be able to fulfil that attacking role is a feather in his cap.””The English summer has arrived,” said Harmer with a smile. Hmm, perhaps somebody should have a word and warn him that it is an itinerant beast.Harmer had put in a 39-over shift on the third day, the bulk of it to take 6 for 92 in the first innings, but there were immediate indications that he had managed to fall out of bed in decent order as he took up a central place in Essex’s attack.By the time he came on for the ninth over of the day, Essex’s pace attack, encouraged by dark, thundery skies, had already struck. Ian Bell, a Warwickshire captain who must find a way out of a calamitous season, fell to an excellent diving catch by wicketkeeper James Foster after nicking a good ball from Wagner, which bounced a shade from a demanding line. There was no shame in that dismissal, although Bell had also edged just short of first slip earlier in the over.Harmer needed just six deliveries to start adding to his tally, Andrew Umeed edging onto the back foot and falling lbw. In his next over, Sam Hain tried to bale out of what seemed to be a pre-meditated sweep, got in a tangle, and squirted a catch off one knee to ten Doeschate at short leg.For the second time in the match, Rikki Clarke eschewed his attacking inclinations and concentrated largely on survival. The lbw decision against him that Harmer won was bound to get a few replays in the Warwickshire dressing room. Clarke shouldered arms to a good-length ball that pitched well outside off stump and was adjudged lbw. With his departure, Warwickshire’s last chance had gone and Tim Ambrose cast his bat aside in frustration.Next ball, Keith Barker tried to paddle the delivery away, got a top edge and was caught behind by Foster. Jeetan Patel, whose leg-side assault had damaged Harmer’s figures in the first innings, fell lbw. By lunch, Harmer’s morning’s work amounted to 5 for 31 off 15 overs.The lunch interval was delayed by 15 minutes, without success, to try to complete the match, but Warwickshire’s last two wickets did not delay overlong thereafter. Boyd Rankin was lbw to surely the slowest, loopiest full toss that Harmer has ever bowled, leaving Sunny Singh to push a turning delivery to first slip in the next over.So the pitch upon which Essex suffered a heartbreaking 50-over defeat had provided consolation by wearing sufficiently quickly for Harmer’s benefit. Patel, a fellow offspinner, and a fine one at that, will rue the fact that Warwickshire lost the toss and imagine that he might also have felt the benefit.But luck rarely runs with a side at the bottom of the table. It is Essex who have become the story of the summer. Their top six has been sheltered from the storm by Alastair Cook and will soon have to prove its mettle without him. Harmer is the signing of the summer and the combative qualities of Wagner are about to give way to the sheen of Amir. And a clutch of promising young pace bowlers are a reminder that Essex remain committed to unearthing their own.Chris Silverwood, a coach with a rising reputation, was absent from the final day because he was feeling unwell, but there was much good news to aid his recovery.

ScorecardWesley Madhevere took three wickets and struck an unbeaten half-century•ICC/Getty Images

Namibia’s decision to bat backfired on them to such an extent that they began their innings losing two wickets in two overs and then were bowled out for 113. With the score on 4 for 46 in the 13th over, and Eben van Wyk gone for 24 – it would become the highest score of the innings – they shifted focus towards lasting the full 50 overs. Zimbabwe didn’t mind. They used eight bowlers, and all of them conceded less than 4.5 runs per over. Nkosilathi Nungu, Dion Myers and Wesley Madhevere picked up two wickets each.The chase began in exciting fashion with opener Gregory Dollar and No. 3 Myers falling before the score reached double-digits. But Madhevere put an end to the mini-slide, hitting 47 off 38 balls, with seven fours, and Zimbabwe got to their target with seven wickets and 183 balls to spare.

Sunil Narine’s bat chips off at the bottom as he meets a full toss outside off•Getty Images

Dhaka Dynamites blew away Rajshahi Kings by 99 runs to confirm their place in the BPL playoffs. The result also means that Rajshahi has to win their last game and wait for other results to go their way to remain in the tournament.Dhaka rode on fifties from Joe Denly and Sunil Narine to pile up 205 for 5 in 20 overs. The pair added 129 runs for the opening stand with Narine top-scoring with 69 off 34 balls, an innings which included four fours and six sixes. Denly was more sedate, making 53 off 54 balls.Newcomer Qazi Onik, who took a four-wicket haul on his BPL debut in the previous game, was hammered for 52 from his four overs, taking two wickets.Then it was Shakib Al Hasan’s turn to delight the Mirpur crowd, as he took the big wickets of Lendl Simmons, Mushfiqur Rahim, Luke Wright and Samit Patel to finish with figures of 4 for 8. Mosaddek Hossain (2 for 9) and Shadman Islam (2 for 3) took two wickets each. Out of the four Rajshahi batsmen who got to double-figures, Patel’s 28 was the top score.

Mithali Raj is right. “Everybody”, as she puts it, was rooting for India. Even England, their opposition in the Women’s World Cup final, wanted to see Raj and her team at Lord’s.”India being in the final is the best result for women’s cricket,” Heather Knight, England’s captain, said. “There’s massive scope for growth and support from India. And with their team being in the final, BCCI will take note and support women’s cricket the way it should be.”The BCCI have already done exactly that. On the eve of the final, they announced a bonus of INR 50 lakh (approx US $ 77,500) for each member of the squad, irrespective of whether they return home with the trophy or not. It means that for reaching the final, Indian women will receive more than three times the amount of an annual Grade A contract, which is set at INR 15 Lakh (approx US $23,200). If they win, who knows how much richer they could become.Raj hoped the wealth won’t be measured only in numbers. “There might be a lot of changes back home if we go on to win the World Cup, and those changes will benefit the future generations,” she said. “Women’s cricket in India will have a brand of its own. It won’t require anything else to support it and promote it as a sport. This platform and this win will definitely give it that edge for young girls to take up sport back home and maybe a women’s IPL might be in the pipeline.”This is not the first time Raj has proposed a women’s IPL. Before last year’s World T20, Raj predicted that if India did well at the event, it would “give birth” to the women’s IPL. As things transpired, India only won one of their four group games and did not make the semi-finals. Now, things have changed. The team is on the up and Raj has reason to restate her request for an IPL.”It is time. Looking at the way the girls have been performing in the last couple of years. And we’ve seen how Smriti and Hamanpreet have benefitted from their exposure to WBBL,” she said. “I am sure if the other young girls in the squad are exposed to the culture of a T20 league, the domestic standard in Indian women’s cricket will also improve immensely.”Knight agreed that an IPL could become one of the showpiece events for the women’s game, and that the performance of the Indian team at this World Cup could be the catalyst for starting it. “A women’s IPL would be brilliant. The BBL and KSL have been really successful and they’ve been a part of pushing women’s cricket forward,” she said. “You’ve seen players involved in those competitions really develop and perform in this World Cup. All we can keep doing as cricketers is keep improving and keep pushing. The more cricket we play, the more competitive and close games, people will improve quicker.”England coach, Mark Robinson, however, was a little more sceptical about another T20 competition. Being a national coach, his reservations are understandable, especially because the women’s game is still trying to find its feet when it comes to regular bilateral fixtures. “I think we have to play more international cricket before we get into IPL. We don’t play enough international games. We haven’t played since November coming into this competition,” he said. “We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. England need to play New Zealand more, Australia more, South Africa more. We need to play more good games, home games from a selfish point of view. The IPL might improve cricket in India, but we want to play more international games.”Even in that regard, Raj aimed to please. Though T20 is foremost on her mind, she also wanted to see the game develop more traditionally. “I would also prefer women cricketers playing the longer format, because that is the ultimate challenge,” Raj, who has played 10 Tests, said. “T20 is a good way of promoting the sport and it gives more range for the batters to be more innovative and proactive in their shot selection. But if you want to see quality bowlers, it’s the longer version that you give them that space. We need to have bowlers also in the game and not just focus on batters.”But not at Lord’s tomorrow. Raj was hopeful of “plenty of runs” at the ground where she averages 153. She has only played at Lord’s twice, first in 2006, when she made 59 in a losing cause, and then in July 2012, when her unbeaten 94 helped India beat England. She remembers the first occasion because all she wanted to do back then, as a 24-year old first-time entrant at the venue, was “click pictures.” Now that she is back here to finish her World Cup career, she considers it “destiny.”Though Raj believes she can continue playing for India for a little longer, she has confirmed this is her last World Cup and she wants to give it everything because she does not know how great the rewards could be. “Unlike 2005, where I played with a lot of pressure, this time I want to enjoy being out there,” she said. “In all the years, there were a lot of occasions where I could have enjoyed the success of my team or a few of the innings I played, but it never occurred to me. Now, I will make sure I will not let the fear of what might go wrong cross me.”What about what might go right? “It’s a final and everybody will have their nerves. No matter how many finals we play, there’s always that fear of putting a wrong foot,” she said. “But this bunch of players is playing a final for the first time. I don’t see any fear in them now. It’s completely different to 2005 when we were all overwrought by the situation.”India’s calm comes from a place of certainty, because they know that everybody, at least everybody that matters to them, is rooting for them. “The whole world will be watching India play. Everybody is rooting for India back home,” Raj said. “We’ve been getting calls from various parts of the country to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the team so far. Everybody is very happy with the way the team has performed through the tournament. One more game can change the fortunes for women’s cricket and Indian women’s cricket.”

Fans without tickets were turned away from Scotland’s World T20 match against Zimbabwe at the VCA stadium in Nagpur today, as there are no ticketing facilities available at the ground.The tickets for the match are priced at 100 rupees for the East and West stands and 200 rupees for behind the bowler’s arm (approx £1.10 and £2.20 respectively). However, many supporters were obliged to travel back to the old VCA stadium in central Nagpur to purchase their tickets, meaning that that those that chose to do so were forced to miss much of the contest.The current stadium, which was inaugurated in 2008 and has a capacity of 45,000, lies 20km outside the city centre, a journey time of approximately 40 minutes by auto-rickshaw. However, the main ticketing system remains still situated at the old venue. A VCA official said it was not possible to have ticketing at both grounds.The BCCI, who declined to comment, are in overall charge of the ticketing policy for the tournament, but the arrangements for each match are at the discretion of the individual state associations. Dharamsala, the other venue that has so far hosted matches, has chosen to sell tickets for the qualifying rounds at the gate.The VCA spokesman added that advertisements for the ticketing policy had been placed in local papers but was unable to explain why the information had not been passed on to the BCCI or ICC, so they could warn fans who were travelling in from other grounds.The atmosphere inside the stadium, which came in for heavy criticism on the opening day of the tournament, was marginally improved for today’s contest, thanks to an influx of some 250 children from nearby schools. However, approximately 100 fans remained locked out of the ground at the start of Zimbabwe’s innings. The venue is too remote to support any local pubs or cafes in which to watch the contest, or to access the ICC’s online ticket-booking service that could have resolved the issue.”We love cricket, which is why we are here even in this heat to watch Scotland take on Zimbabwe,” one group of college students from Nagpur told ESPNcricinfo. “But we can’t book online because of the network and the ticket sales are going on at the other ground. There’s so few people in, why can’t they just let us in. We are even willing to pay at the gate.”One group of Scotland fans, who encountered similar problems during Tuesday’s opening round of fixtures, including Scotland’s defeat against Afghanistan, had been mistakenly informed that they could buy their tickets at their hotel.Privately ICC officials are frustrated that common sense has not been used, especially with the already low turn out for these matches.

Adam Voges has indicated that his days as an international cricketer are over. A day before he is scheduled to lead the Prime Minister’s XI against the visiting Sri Lankans in Canberra, Voges said it would be his last game against an international team.”This will be it for me,” Voges said. “I’m certainly looking forward to getting out there and playing this game. I’ve had an amazing couple of years with Australia with the Test team and I’ve loved every minute of it.”I see this as a last opportunity to play against an international team and I’m certainly looking forward to that.”Voges, 37, has not played a Test match since suffering a concussion during Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in November. Having failed in the first two Tests against South Africa, this game served as a chance to score runs and keep himself in the reckoning for the third Test. Peter Handscomb took Voges’ spot at No. 5, scored a half-century on Test debut, and has established himself as a first-choice member of Australia’s line-up.Voges, who won his Baggy Green in 2015, aged 35, became the oldest debut centurion when he scored an unbeaten 130 against West Indies in Dominica. He struggled through the Ashes tour of England that followed but kept his place in the side and went on to enjoy a storming 2015-16 season that fetched him a century against New Zealand at the WACA, an unbeaten 269 against West Indies in Hobart and another double-hundred in Wellington.His batting average, after the tour of New Zealand, stood at 95.50 after 15 Tests. It fell to 61.87 after sub-par series against Sri Lanka away and South Africa at home, but he ends his career, nonetheless, with the second-highest average – behind only Don Bradman – among all batsmen with a minimum of 20 Tests.Voges’ stint in the Test side was the second half of a two-part international career. Between February 2007 and November 2013, he played 38 limited-overs games, scoring 870 ODI runs at 45.78 and 139 T20I runs at 46.33.

ScorecardCraig Miles got among the wickets when he removed Joe Weatherley•PA Photos

Liam Norwell led a determined Gloucestershire bowling display in Canterbury where Kent were dismissed for 298 on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship season.The 25-year-old paceman bagged 3 for 46, while Chris Liddle, Craig Miles and Graeme van Buuren snaffled two apiece as Kent succumbed inside 89 overs on a green-tinted pitch that offered the visiting seamers some assistance throughout the day.Batting first after an uncontested toss, Kent had 25 on the board within half an hour before Daniel Bell-Drummond became their first casualty of the Division Two campaign. Prodding forward to a fine Norwell leg-cutter, the England Lions opener was caught low down at third slip by George Hankins to go for 11.At the other end, Joe Weatherley, who has joined Kent on a long-term loan from Hampshire, looked assured and confident on his club debut. Getting off the mark with a rasping square cut, the wiry right-hander then straight drove left-armer David Payne for another eye-catching boundary.Gloucestershire made a double bowling change before noon – introducing Liddle and Miles – but Kent trundled to 50 in the 18th over of the day and, by the 26th over, Weatherley and Joe Denly had posted their half-century stand.Weatherley’s stay ended soon after for 36 and to the second delivery of a new spell by Miles. In looking to shoulder arms to a good length leg-cutter, Weatherley inadvertently allowed the ball to brush the face of his bat to offer keeper Phil Mustard the simplest of chances.Gloucestershire’s bowlers strengthened their hand in mid-session, taking four more wickets for 129 runs as Kent’s batsmen failed to cash in on decent starts.Denly continued Kent’s profligate trend. Driving imperiously, he cantered to a 96-ball fifty with nine fours but, with 62 to his name he chased a wide one from Norwell to edge to slip and bring an end to a bright third-wicket stand with Sam Northeast that added 58 inside 13 overs.Without addition to the total, Northeast (22) pushed at one from Liddle that nibbled away off the seam and feathered the outside edge to present Chris Dent with a sharp chance at second slip that made it 134 for 4.Will Gidman raised Kent’s 150 with a square drive that rattled the boundary boards but, with his score on 10, the left-hander pushed firm-handed at another beauty to edge to slip and give Norwell a deserved third wicket.Darren Stevens lifted the run rate with a straight six off Jack Taylor that bisected the Cowdrey and Woolley stands as he posted a 51-ball fifty with seven fours to go with his maximum. But, in attempting to clip his next ball through midwicket, Stevens miscued to square leg to be caught by Cameron Bancroft off the bowling of Van Buuren and leave the hosts six wickets down.Soon after the resumption Adam Rouse (13) fenced at a lifting away-swinger from Miles to edge to Mustard, then, after a couple of lusty blows, Matt Coles (11) holed out to deep midwicket to gift Van Buuren a second scalp.James Tredwell and James Harris, the Middlesex seamer and Kent’s second debutant loanee of the day, took the home score beyond 250 until the second new ball accounted for Tredwell (26) who was caught behind off a full-length away-swinger from Payne.Harris and last man Mitch Claydon continued to go for their shots but Claydon spooned to mid-wicket to give Liddle a second wicket and leave Harris unbeaten on 33.In the five overs through to stumps, Gloucestershire’s Bancroft played inside a Stevens away-swinger to lose off stump as the visitors reached 9 for 1 to trail by 289 going into the second day.

ScorecardAllrounder Gareth Berg produced a match-winning performance as Hampshire began their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign with a thrilling two-wicket win over Sussex with four balls to spare at Hove.Sussex looked favourites when Hashim Amla was sixth out for 63 to leave Hampshire needing 118 from 15.5 overs to overhaul Sussex’s 250. But Lewis McManus and Berg thrashed 59 from 37 balls for the seventh wicket and although McManus was caught behind in the 41st over with 57 still needed Berg unleashed some powerful shots and farmed the strike effectively, although he should have been run out on 47 when he slipped backing up too far only for David Wiese to miss with his throw at the stumps.There was another twist when Berg, who had earlier taken 3 for 51, was caught at deep midwicket in the 47th over off Ollie Robinson for 65, made from 37 deliveries with eight fours and two sixes, to leave his side needing 15 off 20 balls.But Mason Crane and Reece Topley kept their nerve and when Mason drilled Robinson back down the ground for a precious boundary, it meant three were needed off the final over. Topley scrambled a leg bye off the first ball from Ishant Sharma then Crane crashed the next to the cover rope to seal victory.Amla had set things up with 63 from 83 balls and Sussex were to rue that they dropped him on 35, when Sharma spilled an easy chance at mid-off, and again on 54 when the same player dropped a more difficult opportunity off his own bowling. Amla could only hit three boundaries but he held the innings together and allowed McManus and Berg to take the initiative.Earlier, Sussex batsman Harry Finch had made his maiden one-day hundred a fortnight after scoring his first Championship century on the same ground.Wicketkeeper McManus dropped him on 12 off Topley and then on 98 Crane put down a sharp return catch. Finch celebrated by hitting his seventh boundary off the next ball to move to his hundred. He was eventually bowled by Berg for 108 off 142 balls with eight fours and two sixes, both off Berg.Topley, playing his first one-day game for more than a year after a succession of injuries, picked up Wells in his first over but Finch and Luke Wright, who was playing his 200th List A game, added 105 in 22 overs before Wright top-edged a sweep at Crane. Wiese, with 29 off 20 balls, hit out towards the end of the innings to take Sussex to a total that always looked competitive on a pitch on which it became increasingly difficult to time the ball.Robinson picked Rilee Rossouw and James Vince in an excellent new-ball spell and Sussex seemed to be in control before McManus and Berg turned the tables.

ScorecardGlenn Maxwell could face a nervous wait to see whether there is a place for him at the start of the one-day series against England after his second failure in three days. He was the only one of the Australians’ top order not to make a start against Middlesex at Lord’s as Travis Head’s century anchored the innings before the home side’s chase faded away.Maxwell was lbw sweeping at left-arm spinner Ravi Patel as Middlesex’s trio of spinners did an excellent job – none more so than 20-year-old Max Holden who bowled his 10 overs for 29 – in throttling the Australians’ innings in a similar manner to how Sussex fought back a couple of days ago. On that occasion, Maxwell drove the part-time legspin of Luke Wells to mid-off for 1 and his lack of runs in England follow on from a lean IPL.The Australians shuffled their batting order for this outing with Head promoted to open – back to the position where he finished the previous series against England – Aaron Finch slipping down to the middle and Shaun Marsh replacing Marcus Stoinis at No. 3, after Stoinis showed his form with a century against Sussex.Billy Stanlake was also brought in and his height added another dimension to the attack. He did George Scott for pace, the middle stump sent flying back towards the wicketkeeper, and had Holden caught at midwicket off a short delivery for a superbly constructed run-a-ball 71 which highlighted the promise so many around Middlesex talk of.After D’arcy Short had briefly cut loose, before falling to a brilliant catch at midwicket by Nathan Sowter, Head and Marsh added 114 for the second wicket although progress became sluggish against spin with timing difficult on a slightly two-paced surface.Holden, a former England Under-19 captain playing just his fifth List A match, broke the stand in his final over for a deserved scalp when Marsh chipped to midwicket. He conceded just one boundary in his 10 overs, and bowled an unchanged spell from the Nursery End, generally bowling the ball hard into the surface with the occasional one straightening on the left-handers.After Maxwell came and went, Head formed another substantial stand of 89 with Finch. Head reached a carefully compiled hundred from 133 deliveries before edging a cut off the legspin of Sowter. Finch clubbed three sixes in his 54 off 52 balls to continue his productive start to the trip, but overall it was a rather old-school one-day innings from the Australians.”We were a bit slow, they bowled quite well so credit to them,” Head said. “They made it challenging for myself and Shaun. We’ve definitely talked about ways that we can keep improving. I didn’t score as quickly as I would have liked through the middle overs but I was able to stay out there and build a partnership with Shaun and then Aaron to give ourselves a chance at the end to push the run-rate up which we were able to and get a winning score.”I enjoyed getting back up the order, getting out there and getting a hit. I felt like I’ve been in good form. I haven’t got the runs I would have liked in the early part of the season for Worcester but it’s nice to get out here with the boys and perform.”In reply, Middlesex started brightly before Nick Gubbins, who had flicked one six over the short Tavern boundary, bunted a return catch to Michael Neser who grabbed it one-handed to his right.Spin played less of a part for the Australians than it had for Middlesex, but Ashton Agar struck in his first over when Stevie Eskinazi’s top-edged sweep found deep square leg and later Short struck with his first delivery, a long-hop, that his Western Australia team-mate Hilton Cartwright deposited down long-on’s throat.Middlesex are desperate to find Holden – who went out on loan to Northamptonshire last season – a regular spot at the top of the order and he gave a glimpse of why as he struck eight boundaries in a composed display. But he fell soon after Cartwright’s dismissal and with him went Middlesex’s chances of pushing for victory.The last five wickets fell for 22 runs, the bustling Neser collecting a second and Kane Richardson three as all the Australian bowlers found success. They do, however, still have plenty of questions to answer before the opening ODI at The Oval on Wednesday.