Denly leads Panthers to win over Unicorns

Unicorns 170 (36.4 ov) lost to Middlesex 172-1 (27.5 ov) by 9 wickets
(Unicorns 0 pts, Middlesex 2 pts)

Joe Denly’s unbeaten 99 guided Middlesex to a crushing victory over the YB40 minnows at Southend.

Unicorns, made up of former county pros and youngsters yet to break into the paid ranks, began well and were 108-2 at the halfway stage of their innings.

But 19-year-old Tom Helm, playing in only his second Middlesex match, took 3-27 and Tim Murtagh claimed 3-35 as Unicorns were bundled out for 170.

Paul Stirling was out off the third ball of the reply but this proved just a minor blip as Denly and Dawid Malan (58 not out) saw Panthers to a convincing win.

Former Derbyshire batsman Matt Lineker, who now plays for Lincolnshire in the Minor Counties championship, was the star of Unicorns’ innings.

The opener hit five fours and two sixes in a run-a-ball innings of 53 and shared in a second-wicket stand of 56 with former England under-19 Mike O’Shea.

But Helm, who made his Middlesex debut in the YB40 match at Yorkshire last Thursday, sparked a middle order collapse with his first wicket and, bar some brief lower order resistance, Unicorns failed to recover.

Stirling hit the second ball of Panthers’ response to the fence but was out the very next ball, with Unicorns dreaming of a rare victory.

But Denly put paid to that notion with some aggressive hitting, scoring eight fours and four sixes.

He was ably supported by Malan, who kept the scoreboard ticking over rather than hitting out, and the pair remained unbeaten to the end in a stand worth 168.

Denly ran out of runs required to make his century but fittingly he struck the winning boundary to finish unbeaten on 99 and condemn the Unicorns to their seventh defeat in nine matches – the other two being washed out.

Panthers are now fourth in the Group C table, two points off leaders Somerset, with four matches to play.

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