Middlesex have been relegated from Division One of the County Championship after a tense finish at Trent Bridge on the final day of competition, as they lost to Nottinghamshire by two wickets.
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Kent and Middlesex went into day four of their respective final rounds of the competition still battling to stay up in the top division. After Kent secured more batting points than Middlesex, scoring 494 in their first innings, Middlesex needed to Kent’s result in order to overtake them in the table.
A win was still on the cards for Kent after a dramatic second-innings collapse from Lancashire. Having reached 194-0 they lost six wickets for 33 runs. Their lead was still only 60 and if Kent managed to secure a victory, their place in Division One would have been secure for another year regardless of the result at Trent Bridge. However, a 124-run eighth-wicket partnership between Josh Bohannon and Tom Bailey put Lancashire out of reach, and a draw was agreed.
Middlesex declared in their second innings to set Notts a target of 207 to win. The home side got to within 101 before the collapse started, driven by career-best figures from Sam Robson.
Steve Mullaney was undone by Josh De Caires before Jayant Yadav bowled Joe Clarke. Robson trapped Ben Slater two overs later before he also dismissed Tom Moores shortly after. Lyndon James was out in the following over and Calvin Harrison only managed three off 15 balls before he too was sent back by Robson. That left Notts reeling at 157-7, still needing 50 runs to win. Three more wickets would ensure Middlesex stayed up.
Sam Robson is creating a nail-biting finish at Trent Bridge! Middlesex need three wickets to avoid relegation, while Notts need less than 50 runs to win 😬pic.twitter.com/RVxjvDJ99M
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 29, 2023
However, Brett Hutton managed to stay with Matthew Montgomery to get Notts above 200. When he became Robson’s fourth victim, Notts only needed five to win. There was still late drama as Robson and Yadav bowled in tandem. Fittingly, it was Jake Ball who crashed a four for the winning runs in his last game for the club.
The loss means Middlesex finish their campaign on 98 points, and will be back in Division Two next year. They were promoted after finishing second in the bottom tier last year. They join Northamptonshire as the two relegated teams.
