Compton keeps Middlesex top and sentences Notts to the drop

Middlesex 247 (Gubbins 75, Ball 5-66) and 235 for 5 (Compton 63, Simpson 58*, Franklin 54*) beat Nottinghamshire 241 (Patel 100, Finn 4-54) and 240 (Mullaney 64, Rayner 4-83) by five wicketsScorecard

The differing emotions between the two sides told the story: as the Middlesex dressing room reverberated with an exuberant rendition of the team song, Nottinghamshire’s players sat looking tired and dejected.

Why? Because victory means Middlesex’s title challenge remains alive and well. And defeat leaves Nottinghamshire relegated to Division Two for the first time in a decade.

A five-wicket margin may appear comfortable. And, it is true, in the last hour or so, as Nottinghamshire’s head dropped, Middlesex ran away with this result.

But until then, until we had enjoyed 10 sessions of uncompromising, unpredictable, undulating cricket where the initiative passed between the sides almost as often as ball beat bat. It will be no consolation to Nottinghamshire, but this was a terrific game of cricket.

In a match of blow and counter blow, the defining punch was – arguably, at least – thrown by Nick Compton. Coming to the crease with his side under pressure, Compton negotiated some testing bowling and a demanding chase to break the back of the run-chase.

Gone was the stuttering, indeterminate Compton that we have seen at other times this summer and in his place was a man sure of his purpose and his method. He moved with certainty into his defensive strokes and, as he settled, used his feet to skip down the pitch and negate the threat offered by Imran Tahir with a series of fluent drives. It was, like elegantly sedate.

His tussle with Jake Ball was a compelling advert for county cricket. Ball, generating sharp pace and generally cutting the ball in, certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. Finishing the game with nine wickets – his team-mates claimed five between them – he looked a threat in every second-innings spell he bowled.

His first spell of the day – only three overs – did not concede a run, while his second produced the wicket of the increasingly fluent Stevie Eskinazi caught behind after following one outside off. Generally Compton, standing a long way over towards off stump and playing everything as if it would nip back, looked to see Ball off and pick-up runs against the other bowlers and it was noticeable that, as the ball aged, Ball gained less away movement from deliveries pitched on the stumps. Gradually, Compton took control and the target was whittled away.

Nottinghamshire’s spinners were a little …

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