Middlesex End Ten-Year Trophy Drought With One-Day Cup Triumph Over Leicestershire

Metro Bank Men’s One-Day Cup final, Trent Bridge

Middlesex 231 (49.5 overs): Higgins 100, Duke 55; Holland 5-36

Leicestershire 200 (44.2 overs): Kelly 103; Roland-Jones 3-27, Helm 3-32

Middlesex win by 31 runs

Match scorecard

Middlesex claimed their first silverware in ten years, fighting back from a precarious start to defeat Leicestershire in a gripping One-Day Cup final at Trent Bridge.

After being sent in to bat by Leicestershire captain Stephen Eskinazi, Ryan Higgins’ magnificent century rescued Middlesex from a dire situation, guiding them to 231 before they were bowled out in the final over of their innings.

The 31-year-old struck nine fours in his 115-ball knock after his side had slumped to 71-5 in the 22nd over, putting on 135 for the sixth wicket with loan Yorkshire wicketkeeper Harry Duke, who scored 55.

Ian Holland returned his second-best List-A figures of 5-36 for the Foxes, while England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed took 3-55.

In reply, Leicestershire lost early wickets as former England seamer Toby Roland-Jones bowled ten overs straight through, delivering an excellent opening spell of 3-27.

Leicestershire relied heavily on New Zealand international Nick Kelly, who struck a glorious century off 103 deliveries and seemed destined to guide his team to victory.

However, the match shifted dramatically in the over following Kelly’s century when the left-hander lofted a catch to Ryan Higgins at mid-wicket off Tom Helm’s bowling, leaving Leicestershire at eight down.

That proved to be the decisive turning point, as Helm dismissed Ajaz Patel and Tom Scriven skied a catch straight up to Naavya Sharma, with captain Ben Geddes taking the crucial winning catch.

Middlesex’s previous title came in the 2016 County Championship, and they had not secured a white-ball trophy since lifting the T20 Blast in 2008.

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