Respect for final rivals

THE arrival of Yorkshire at Lord’s for the next round of Specsavers County Championship matches, starting on Monday, will give Middlesex supporters a frisson of anticipation.

The fixture will evoke happy memories of last season, when a 61-run win over Yorkshire, sealed by a hat-trick from Toby Roland-Jones, saw the club win the championship for the first time in 23 years.

But those heady days feel a long time ago now. Middlesex are still looking for their first win of the season and their recent eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Lancashire at Southport left them in sixth place, just above the relegation zone.

“The unbeaten run had to come to an end at some point, and we were outplayed for two and a half days,” said their captain, James Franklin.

Head coach Richard Scott says: “Lancashire played better than we did, simple as that. But we’re going into the Yorkshire game feeling good. We’ve got a good record against them in recent matches.

“We still think we can retain our title. The table shows that Hampshire and Essex have done very well after getting on a roll, and that’s what we must do now.” JASPRIT BUMRAH insists India will not underestimate Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final despite hammering them in both sides’ tournament opener less than two weeks ago.

Pakistan were written off after a 124-run mauling in Birmingham, but lived up to their reputation as unpredictable outsiders by bouncing back to overcome South Africa and Sri Lanka before upsetting hosts England in the last four.

That has given them the chance for revenge against their fierce rivals when they meet for the first time in a global one-day international final at the Oval tomorrow (10.30), and Bumrah insists Pakistan will be afforded plenty of respect by India.

He said: “They are always a good side. On their day they