Middlesex chase slips away after Malan 70

Glamorgan came back brilliantly in the last five overs against Middlesex to win a game that seemed lost. Dawid Malan's 70 off 55 balls appeared to be enough to give the visitors victory but some fine death bowling from Michael Hogan and Graham Wagg saw the hosts claim their first win at Cardiff of the season.

The Middlesex chase started briskly as Malan combined with Nick Compton in an opening stand that progressed at almost 10 an over. Compton fell to the bowling of Wayne Parnell, but that led to the appearance of Australian Joe Burns at the crease. His brisk 21 off 10 balls included two massive sixes hit into the River Taff.

It was Malan that held the chase together but his 70 off 54 balls was not without good fortune. He was dropped twice in two balls off Andrew Salter when on 47 and then again when on 60 off Hogan. Glamorgan looked to have thrown the game away with those split catches and when Malan and Morgan were together Middlesex were cruising.

When both men departed in quick succession the Middlesex middle order could not keep the rate under control. They needed 13 to win off the final over and Wagg restricted them to just eight.

Glamorgan went with a third different opening partnership in as many games in an attempt to give some impetus to the start of their innings after two successive home defeats. Fresh from his second first-class hundred of the season, Craig Meschede was promoted to open.

Despite this change the boundaries were hard to come by with Glamorgan reaching 41 for no loss off the Powerplay overs. It was when 22-year-old leg spin bowler Nathan Sowter was brought into the attack that Glamorgan started to find the boundary. His first three deliveries were reverse hit for four by Jacques Rudolph during an over than cost Middlesex 19 runs.

Rudolph went on to score his eighth fifty for Glamorgan in 17 innings before he fell to a skier off the bowling of Dexter. Ben Wright followed soon after, bowled by a full ball from England quick Steven Finn for just three runs.

Chris Cooke put together an excellent innings of 39 runs off just 24 balls, hitting the first sixes of the Glamorgan innings in the 20th over. After two poor batting displays in the previous two matches at home the 169 for 5 Glamorgan made here was a significant improvement but few at the ground thought they had enough.

This welcome return to winning ways was a display of real fight from the Glamorgan side in a game that Middlesex really should have won.