Shakib spins out Middlesex

Shakib: Match-winning display

LV County Championship - Division Two
Lord's
Worcestershire 313 (M M Ali 66, T S Roland-Jones 4-51) & 256 (M M Ali 81, G M Andrew 73, T S Roland-Jones 5-83) v Middlesex 392 (O A Shah 117, N J Dexter 97, S A Newman 78, M M Ali 5-36) & 66 (Shakib Al Hasan 7-32)
Worcestershire (21pts) beat Middlesex (7pts) by 111 runs

Related links

Teams

• Middlesex
• Worcestershire

Also see

• Sky Sports experts
• Scores
• £5 Free Bet
• Fixtures/Results

Bangladesh off-spinner Shakib Al-Hasan kept Worcestershire's Division Two promotion hopes alive with a career-best bowling performance against Middlesex at Lord's.

The overseas star claimed second innings figures of 7-32 as the Pears powered to a 111-run victory on the final day.

Needing 178 for victory, Middlesex simply had no answer to the guile of Shakib and crumbled to 66 all out shortly after lunch.

The result puts Worcestershire hot on the heels of second-placed Glamorgan with one fixture remaining.

Resuming the final day on 195-7 - leading by just 116 - overnight duo Moeen Ali and Gareth Andrew continued the Worcestershire fightback with an aggressive stand in the morning session.

Ali fell for 81 but Andrew (71) continued his devastating assault on the bowling to propel Worcestershire past 250. Toby Roland-Jones was the pick of the Middlesex attack with figures of 5-83.

With plenty of time left in the match, Middlesex would have been confident of reaching the 178 victory target and claiming only their fifth win of the season.

However, Pears pace bowler Alan Richardson (2-20) dismissed both Middlesex openers early in the piece and from there on Worcestershire never looked back.

Shakib was quickly introduced into the attack on a wearing surface and he ripped through the home side's middle-order with a spin bowling masterclass.

Owais Shah (25) was the third of Shakib's seven scalps, bringing down the curtain on his 17-year career with the county.

Day Three

Departing Middlesex batsman Owais Shah completed a fine century as the hosts took control of their Division Two clash with Worcestershire at Lord's.

Shah resumed the third day on 70 and duly completed his 38th first-class hundred for the county, with Neil Dexter adding 97 to bring the Middlesex first inning total to 392 all out.

Worcestershire then slumped to 195-7 by the close, leaving them only 116 runs ahead with three second-innings wickets remaining.

Shah reached 117 before edging Moeen Ali to slip where Daryl Mitchell took a sharp catch, but the damage had been done after a sixth-wicket stand of 158 with Dexter.

Dexter departed three runs shy of a century as he chipped a return catch to Moeen, who mopped up the tail to finish as the pick of the bowlers with 5-36.

Toby Roland-Jones then produced an excellent piece of fielding at backward point to run out Pears opener David Wheeldon for 22 and the visitors' innings stuttered from there all the way to stumps.

Moeen, who had earlier starred with the ball, made an unbeaten 71 to finish as Worcestershire's top performer while Roland-Jones claimed 3-64.

Day Two

Owais Shah closed in on a farewell century as Middlesex moved into a strong position at the halfway stage of their Division Two encounter with Worcestershire at Lord's.

Shah (70 not out) and opener Scott Newman (78) both struck composed half-centuries to lift their side to 244-5 in reply to the Pears' first-innings 313.

Heavy rain prevented any further progress for either side in what is shaping up to be an intriguing contest at the home of cricket.

Shah featured in stands of 76 with Newman, 67 with Dan Housego and 46, so far unbroken, with his captain Neil Dexter, who is 26 not out.

The England international, who is closing in on his 50th century for Middlesex on his 200th first-class appearance for the club, looked in determined mood throughout as he looks to sign off from his 17-year stint in style.

The pick of the bowlers for promotion-chasing Worcestershire on day two were Jack Shantry (1-33) and James Cameron (1-24).

Day One

Middlesex paceman Toby Roland-Jones made up for his late arrival at Lord's by taking four wickets on the opening day against promotion-chasing Worcestershire.

Several players struggled to make it to the ground on time due to congestion caused by the London tube strike, but only Roland-Jones actually missed the start of play.

But he wasted little time in making an impact when he finally did take to the field, as he finished the day with 4-51 as the visitors were dismissed for 313.

After a solid start Worcestershire collapsed from 101-1 to 126-4 in mid-afternoon - triggered when Daryl Mitchell, who had batted solidly for 47, left a ball from Finn which clipped his off bail.

Moeen Ali and Shakib Al Hasan managed to steady the ship somewhat with a fifth-wicket partnership of 78, but former Bangladesh captain Shakib (34) then miscued Owais Shah's off-spin to mid-wicket.

Moeen hit a six and 10 fours in an impressive innings of 66 but was dismissed by James Dexter (3-50), leaving Gareth Andrew to add some valuable runs from the lower order with a quick-fire 36 before his scalp was claimed by Roland-Jones.