Surrey went down fighting at Mill Hill School against Middlesex in a London Derby where the ball did the talking and runs were hard to come by.
After facing two London Derby defeats this season, Sonali Patel (5/26) and Anisha Dissanayake (4/26) prevented Surrey’s hattrick and took Middlesex to a hard-fought, three-wicket victory. It was befitting that the winning runs came from Patel’s blade, who walked out at number eight for the hosts.
Defending a target of 82 runs, Surrey kept their spirits high and fought back with the ball, Izzy Sidhu cleaning up the competition’s top run-getter, Saskia Horley, for three in her first over. Incoming Artemis Downer opened her account with a boundary on her very first ball but was run out by Maddie Blinkhorn Jones on the next.
Riva Pindoria and I F K Routledge were looking in good nick and got a partnership going, which was ended by Bethan Miles when she had Routledge (7) caught by Amy Gordon before making it a double wicket maiden by removing Georgia Irving (0).
Pindoria continued to make merry, now partnering with Lucky Porter, as the pair took Middlesex from 31 for four to past 60.
Refusing to give up, Gordon’s side struck thrice in quick succession and had their hosts on 75 for seven, still seven runs away from victory.
Ellie Barker’s run out of Porter for 13 initiated Middlesex’s mini-collapse before leg-spinner Anjali Ketan got the better of Pindoria for a well-made 33 and Charlotte Lambert bowled Iqraa Hussain for one.
There were no further twists in the tale as Middlesex’s new-ball bowling pair, Patel and Gayatri Gole, got the job done from there on, sealing a three-wicket win to cement Middlesex’s position at the top of the table.
Earlier in the day, having elected to bowl, Middlesex and Patel started on the front foot, making the most of overcast conditions at Mill Hill School. The opening bowler was successful twice in her first over, having Daisy Feast (2) caught by Irving and bowling Laxmi Johal without scoring.
Patel, having found her rhythm immediately, struck again in her second, this time proving too good for Blinkhorn-Jones, who was bowled for two, leaving Surrey in trouble on 15 for three.
Middlesex kept their visitors under the pump as Gole found a fourth breakthrough when she clean-bowled Surrey skipper Gordon for two.
It went bad to worse for the Three Feathers after opener Barker (14 off 37 balls) was caught and bowled by Patel and Miles (8 off 21 balls) became Dissanayake’s first of four victims.
Such good was Patel’s spell that she completed her quota of 10 overs – three of them maidens – in one go, completing her five-wicket-haul by bowling Robyn Bentley for four.
Dissanayake wrapped up Surrey’s tail, removing Izzy Berry (8), Ketan (2) and Sidhu (5), interspersed by a rain break and a final wicket stand of 20 runs. Surrey were all out for 81 and Lambert remained unbeaten on 13.
