Match Report | Middlesex v Glos | Day One
6 May 2021
David Payne finished with five for 31, his best figures of the season, while Ryan Higgins and Matt Taylor picked up two wickets apiece.
In reply, Gloucestershire lost captain Chris Dent, run out attempting a rash single to midwicket, but Kraigg Brathwaite and nightwatchman Taylor saw them to 19 for one at stumps.
With heavy cloud cover in the morning, it was little surprise that Dent opted to insert the home side and unleash his quartet of seamers after winning the toss.
Sam Robson and Max Holden grafted through an attritional 40 minutes before rain held up play and, when the action resumed, it took Higgins just two balls to make the breakthrough, trapping Robson leg before.
Holden was unlucky to be given out lbw shortly before lunch, offering no shot to a Taylor delivery that appeared to be sailing over the stumps.
Peter Handscomb’s struggle for runs continued, the Middlesex skipper losing his off peg for 11 after an ill-judged leave to Payne.
The left-armer also picked up the wicket of Nick Gubbins, who was bogged down in making 18 before his outside edge flew to second slip, where George Hankins juggled but held on.
However, White timed his shots sweetly, cutting and driving with increased confidence as the overhead conditions improved and building a partnership of 39 with John Simpson.
That stand ended when Simpson, who had just driven spinner Tom Smith back down the ground for four, was pinned in front of his stumps as the next one kept low.
White added another 42 with Martin Andersson, who was lbw for 20 when Taylor returned from the Nursery End and then advanced into familiar territory, passing 50 by drilling Daniel Worrall to the cover boundary.
Payne’s inswinger castled James Harris – recalled following another injury setback for Toby Roland-Jones, who was due to undergo a knee operation – and he finished off the innings by dismissing Thilan Walallawita and Tim Murtagh in the space of three balls.
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