Cricket: Pettini and Gough Murder Middlesex

This year marks the centenary of county cricket in Southend and during that entire period it is hard to believe Essex have played many opponents who put up as pathetic a show as Middlesex did yesterday.

As an exercise in warming up for next Saturday's 20:20 semi-final the game had its uses for the Eagles - they knocked off the runs needed to win in just 18.3 overs - but as far as the Festival crowd were concerned the entertainment value at this featureless ground was minimal.

Winning the toss was about the only thing Middlesex got right all day. Scott Styris chose to bat on a track even more colourless than the parched outfield, but the wickets at Garon Park have been switched from an east/west lay-out to north/south since last season and there was plenty in it for the bowlers. The Essex bowlers, anyway.

Andy Bichel started the procession by having Paul Weekes caught behind off his third delivery. One run later Owais Shah took a couple of strides down the wicket in search of a single that was not there and failed to recover his ground. At the other end Darren Gough, whose tiresome insistence on telling anybody who will listen that he should be in the England one-day team is beginning to obscure the fact he is actually making a very solid case on the field, produced a seaming delivery which Jamie Dalrymple edged to Grant Flower at first slip.

Ed Joyce's half-hearted pull at a short ball from Bichel was well caught by a diving Ryan ten Doeschate at square leg and Eoin Morgan was caught behind off the same bowler to leave the Crusaders on 29-5 in the 12th over.

A resigned Styris, together with Nick Compton, settled down to avoiding complete humiliation and they added a careful 81 for the sixth wicket before the New Zealander holed out, caught by Ronnie Irani off Gough. The rest followed in short order, the two fours and a six struck by Johann Louw off a single Ravi Bopara over representing the sole bright spot.

Any suggestion the wicket would make life similarly difficult for the Eagles was immediately made to look foolish by Mark Pettini. Essex were on 27 after three overs and though Irani got a shooter from Louw, Pettini blazed away to reach his 50 off 31 balls, in the tenth over. He rode his luck when he was dropped by Shah at first slip on 26 but it would not have made any difference; by then Gough, coming in at three as has been his custom this season, was also in full flow.

The 35-year-old Yorkshireman hit 10 boundaries in going to his half-century. It was only his second in one day cricket but another point made for all that.