Murtagh and Harris clean up
At Lord’s Middlesex (214 & 159) beat Northamptonshire (71 & 142) by 160 runs
Middlesex served warning that their pace attack is probably the most potent in the Specsavers County Championship Division Two as Tim Murtagh and James Harris grabbed four wickets apiece to secure victory over Northamptonshire inside two and a half days.
The 160-run win was, admitted stand-in captain Sam Robson, the perfect start, as they look to quickly forget the humiliation of last season’s unexpected relegation.
Murtagh returned figures of four for 36 and Harris four for 39, giving him match figures of nine for 48, as Northants’ second innings subsided to 142 at Lord’s.
A half-century partnership between Rob Newton and skipper Alex Wakely gave the visitors a flicker of hope in pursuit of a daunting 303, but once they had been parted, defeat was inevitable.
“It’s a great start – obviously with what happened last year, you want to bounce back strongly and kick the season off well,” said Robson.
“James Harris was awesome with everything he did the whole way through,” added Robson. “He got stuck in first innings and batted really well, probably got the balance right and, with the ball, he’s a handful in these conditions.”
Victory always looked a tall order for Northants, who resumed at nine without loss, chasing a further 294 on a pitch that had seen 26 wickets fall the previous day.
The odds lengthened when Ben Duckett fell to Murtagh’s fifth ball. Hutton departed soon after and Northants slumped to 44 for three when Harris pinned Luke Procter leg-before.
Toby Roland-jones broke the fourth-wicket stand by persuading Newton to slash outside off stump and medium-pacer Hilton Cartwright marked his first spell in county cricket by having Wakely lbw with only his fourth delivery.
After lunch it took Middlesex just 38 balls to blow away the Northamptonshire lower order, with Murtagh and Harris doing the damage. “Middlesex bowled better than we did,” said Northants captain Wakely, adding that “the pitch was slightly under-prepared, possibly too soft to play first-class cricket on.”