Murtagh delivers Middlesex some much-needed relief

Middlesex 75 for 1 (Godleman 23*, Shah 6*) trail Essex 161 (Murtagh 6-44, Berg 3-38) by 86 runs
Scorecard

	Gareth Berg celebrates as Ravi Bopara gets a thin edge © Cricinfo

There's has been little to cheer for Middlesex followers of late, and their side came into this match against a backdrop of a petition from disgruntled members calling for an emergency meeting to put the world to rights. But after an indifferent morning, Middlesex utterly dominated and by the close they had reached 75 for 1 after bowling Essex out for 161. For one day, at least, all was right with the world in NW8.

It had looked for all the world as if it would be more of the same, but the day turned on a brief delay for bad light half an hour after lunch. At that point Essex, who had weathered an early onslaught, were comfortably placed on 131 for 3 with the in-form Ravi Bopara ominously set. Tim Murtagh, bowling with pace and control, had taken two early wickets, and even when Jason Gallian fell to one of five catches from wicketkeeper Ben Scott, there was no indication of what was to follow.

Bopara, on the back of a one-day double-hundred on Wednesday, had just caressed two exquisite drives and appeared ready to cut loose. But an over after Mark Pettini hooked Murtagh for six, the umpires took the players from the field to boos from a crowd swelled in number and shrillness by the presence of a couple of thousand schoolchildren.

When play resumed 20 minutes later, it might as well have been another match on another ground. In a quarter of an hour, Essex lost four wickets for five runs. Pettini was the first to go, held brilliantly one-handed by Scott after fencing at one from Murtagh that climbed, and the next ball Ryan ten Doeschate lazily clipped a half volley straight to midwicket. The hat-trick ball thudded into James Foster's pads but the umpire remained unconvinced despite a confident 11-man appeal.

	Second slip Owais Shah catches James Middlebrook © Cricinfo

It was brief respite. Bopara followed in the next over, a nothing shot off Gareth Berg finding a thin edge. While Murtagh and Berg bowled tidily and unchanged after the restart, Essex more than played their part in their own demise with a succession of rash shots. Murtagh, who finished with 6 for 44, took 4 for 11 after the interruption.

As if to underline that the pitch was not all that bad, when Middlesex batted Billy Godelman and Ed Smith put on 65 for the first wicket. David Masters, operating from the Nursery End, as had Murtagh, repeatedly beat the left-handed Godleman outside his off stump, although Smith was less troubled.

The introduction of Bopara opened the floodgates. Smith edged his first delivery - a no-ball - through second slip's hands for four, and then set about him with three rasping cover drives in the next eight balls. Masters was quickly summoned back and he got a deserved reward when Smith played a loose back-foot drive and was caught behind.

As the gloom returned and the umpires conferred almost every over, Owais Shah survived two loud and lingering appeals for catches behind. On both occasions the Essex players made it all too clear that they were unimpressed with Pasty Harris' decision, while for his part the umpire ostensibly swished his leg more than once to indicate what he thought the ball had flicked.

At the end of the over, amid much muttering, the umpires decided they had seen enough and took the players off for a second and final time. The Essex players' body language as they sloped towards the pavilion spoke volumes, underlining that their predicament was almost all self inflicted.