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Middlesex beat Leicestershire to win One-Day Cup - Published Metro Bank Men's One-Day Cup final, Trent Bridge Middlesex 231 (49.5 overs): Higgins 100, Duke 55; Holland 5-36 Leicestershire 200 (44.2 overs): Kelly 103; Roland-Jones 3-27, Helm 3-32 Middlesex win by 31 runs Middlesex claimed their first silverware in a decade as they fought back from a tricky start to beat Leicestershire in a thrilling One-Day Cup final at Trent Bridge. Having been put into bat by Leicestershire captain Stephen Eskinazi, Ryan Higgins' magnificent hundred dug Middlesex out of a hole and helped them reach 231 before being bowled out in the final over of their innings. Higgins, 31, struck nine fours in his 115-ball knock after his team had slumped to 71-5 in the 22nd over, putting on 135 with on-loan Yorkshire wicketkeeper Harry Duke (55) for the sixth wicket. Ian Holland returned his second-best List-A figures of 5-36 for the Foxes, while England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed took 3-55. In reply, Leicestershire too lost early wickets as former England seamer Toby Roland-Jones bowled 10 overs straight through in a fine opening spell of 3-27. Leicestershire were indebted to the efforts of New Zealand international Nick Kelly, who reached a glorious century of his own off 103 deliveries and appeared to be taking his side to victory. However, the game swung again in the over after Kelly reached his hundred as the left-hander heaved Tom Helm to Higgins on the mid-wicket fence to leave Leicestershire eight down. And that proved the decisive moment as Helm dismissed Ajaz Patel and Tom Scriven skied Naavya Sharma straight up, with captain Ben Geddes taking the winning catch. Middlesex's most recent success was the County Championship in 2016, and they had not won a white-ball trophy since lifting the T20 Blast in 2008. Higgins & Roland-Jones star as Middlesex end drought Middlesex had to overcome adversity more than once in Nottingham as they ended their long wait for a trophy. They faced the most difficult batting conditions of the day in the opening hour and many teams would have crumbled at 71-5. The sixth-wicket partnership between Higgins and Duke was a game-defining one as they fought back and gave their bowlers something to work with. It was Higgins' first List-A hundred and it will live long in the memory for Middlesex supporters fortunate enough to watch it as he displayed character, graft and no shortage of skill. Roland-Jones is a legendary figure at the club and he showed exactly why with a near-immaculate spell, taking the key scalps of Rishi Patel and Ahmed. Sharma is Middlesex's leading wicket-taker in this competition and the 21-year-old too impressed with the ball, making the breakthrough as he found Eskinazi's outside edge, pinning Hamza Shaikh lbw and then returning to take the final wicket. With Kelly in full flow, heads never went down and they showed all the composure of a team that have only lost once in this format all season. Foxes fall short despite Kelly heroics Off the back of their 27-point deduction in the County Championship, Leicestershire's team talk is more than likely to have been straightforward. And they started like a team with a point to prove after Eskinazi won the toss, backed by a vocal travelling support. Holland set the tone with the new ball, nicking off Nathan Fernandes and Max Holden cheaply before Tom Scriven took two wickets of his own, including a fine catch by wicketkeeper Ben Cox to remove Josh De Caires (26). Incredibly Cox caught the first five wickets to fall. Middlesex fought back through Higgins and Duke, and the Foxes will perhaps look back on that partnership as an opportunity that slipped away. Rishi Patel and Eskinazi got the chase off to a bright start, but three wickets for just three runs stalled their momentum and similarly to Middlesex's innings, Leicestershire found themselves five wickets down in the 70s. Ahmed will regret his decision not to review after being given out lbw off Roland-Jones, with replays showing it would have missed leg stump. Much as Higgins revived Middlesex, Kelly breathed new life into the Leicestershire chase with his defiant knock, which featured 10 fours and three sixes. The Kiwi left-hander was being serenaded from the stands as the runs required ticked away, but he had to drag himself from the middle with 44 runs still needed. Those fans continued to sing until the end, but were left disappointed as their team fell short. Related topics - Published28 August
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