Andy Flower's third half-century in the space of four days laid the foundation of Essex's thrilling two-run triumph over Middlesex in front of another big crowd at Chelmsford last night.
The left-hander followed up his 71 against Sussex and 52 in the match with Zimbabwe with a masterful 83 from 53 deliveries before he departed in the final over.
By then he had hammered a dozen fours plus a huge six over mid-wicket at the expense of Chad Keegan to help carry the county to 175-5, to which the men from Lord's responded with 173-7.
Flower's dominance saw him finish his Twenty20 Cup campaign with an aggregate of 266 from five matches -- and certainly he left his mark on umpire Allan Jones.
The official suffered a suspected fractured arm when, standing at square leg, he did not have sufficient time to take evasive action from a ferocious pull against Tim Bloomfield.
Play was held up for five minutes while Jones received treatment, but he was unable to continue and was replaced for the remainder of the Essex innings by Middlesex coach John Emburey.
Flower drove and pulled with his customary freedom to give a near capacity crowd of 5,500 plenty to cheer.
On his way to completing a 30-ball half-century Flower struck three boundaries in an over against Abdul Razzaq before the Pakistani all-rounder gained some consolation by having him caught on the mid-wicket boundary with three balls remaining.
Ronnie Irani played his part by helping Flower put on 67 in eight overs for the first wicket.
The Essex skipper's share was 30 from 24 balls but Mark Pettini, Darren Robinson and Aftab Habib managed only 17 between them as Essex declined to 107-4.
But sanity was restored as Flower and Paul Grayson took control to add 63 in seven overs.
Middlesex were soon in trouble when they responded, Jon Dakin and Scott Brant reducing them to 34-3 by the fifth over.
The arrival of Razzaq led to a revival in visiting fortunes. He only faced 19 deliveries but seven of those he despatched to the boundary while he made 33.
When he drove to Pettini at short extra cover in Grayson's first over Essex were able to breathe a big sigh of relief.
Middlesex arrived with 19 required from the final two overs and with three wickets left.
Thankfully for home supporters Dakin and Brant kept their line and discipline amid great excitement and enabled Essex to at least end a disappointing Twenty20 adventure on a winning note.
More on Essex County Cricket Club
Published Wednesday, June 25, 2003
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