Northamptonshire vs Middlesex, County Championship Divison One, Today Match Prediction 13 April 2023

north vs mdx Match Prediction & Analysis

The top flight of English cricket is back and the top English teams are here to fight it out to win the County Championship. Not an ideal start for both teams, starting off the season with a loss. But they will want to take it in their stride and start off the campaign with a win as soon as possible.

Middlesex will be extremely disappointed to have lost the last game, as not only it was their first game after promotion but also as they were playing at home. They would want to take the last game as a learning experience and level up for the remaining games.

Northamptonshire have been in terrible form, not being able to win a game in the last 5 matches that they have played. They will be well aware that if this form continues they will be fighting to stay put in the first division.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Northamptonshire Preview

Not an ideal way to start off the season for Northamptonshire as they suffered a heavy defeat against Kent, who won the game by 7 wickets. Coming into this game on the back of 3 straight losses, Northamptonshire will be looking to make amends against Middlesex and not repeat the performance from the last game.

Put into bat first, Northamptonshire folded like a pack of cards in the 1st innings. Getting bowled out for a mere 117 runs was an abysmal performance. Trailing by 105 in the second innings, they scored 331 runs in what was a much-improved batting performance. Rob Keoge scored a brilliant 116, supported by Hasan Azad and Gareth Berg who scored half-centuries in the second innings.

The bowling department was under a lot of pressure after the disappointing 1st innings score put on by the batsmen. They managed to bowl out Kent fr 222 in the first innings. Jack White picked up 4 wickets and Chris Tremain picked up a 5 wicket haul. They could not replicate their 1st innings bowling performance and ended up losing the game by 7 wickets.

Key Players: Rob Keogh, Hasan Azad, Chris Tremain and Jack White

Northamptonshire Predicted Playing XI:

Ricardo Vasconcelos, Hasan Azad, Sam Whiteman, Luke Procter(c), Rob Keogh, Josh Cobb, Lewis McManus(w), James Sales, Gareth Berg, Chris Tremain, Jack White

Middlesex Preview

Definitely not the way Middlesex would have wanted to start off their campaign, especially after gaining promotion from the second division. But this could prove to be a blessing in disguise as they can now prepare better for the challenges that lie ahead in their first division.

After winning the toss and opting to field first, Middlesex made a good start with the ball. Bowling out the team for 266 was a really good effort, made possible by Tobias Roland-Jones who picked up 7 wickets in the 1st innings. After a disappointing batting performance, they had a difficult task to restrict Essex as soon as possible, and managed to do so bowling them for 211 runs. Tim Murtagh was brilliant in the 2nd innings picking up 4 wickets.

The batting department were simply abysmal, getting bowled out for 170 in the first innings, giving the opposition a huge lead. The top4 batsmen were all bowled out on 0, which meant Ryan Higgins (70) and John Simpson (63) had to hold the ship. The target of 308 proved to be a bit too much as they lost by 97 runs.

Key Players: John Simpson, Stephen Eskinazi, Tobias Roland-Jones, Tim Murtagh

Middlesex Predicted Playing XI:

Mark Stoneman, Sam Robson, Stephen Eskinazi, Pieter Malan, Max Holden, John Simpson(w), Ryan Higgins, Luke Hollman, Toby Roland-Jones(c), Tom Helm, Tim Murtagh

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The weather forecast seems to be quite overcast with a high possibility of rain. The maximum and minimum temperatures will be in the 12°C - 4°C range.

Venue Details

The County Ground is located in Northampton, England. It has the capacity of 6500 people.

The pitch is a batsman-friendly wicket and has a history of staying good through the 4 innings. As the match progresses, the pitch gets better to bat on, making it an excellent wicket to chase on.

Toss: To Bowl

Although there might not have been many matches played on this ground, the pitch is an absolute belter. The wicket suits the bowlers at the start of the innings, and gets better for the batsmen as the innings progresses.