New round of County Championship commenced on July 25 (Tuesday) where Middlesex and Warwickshire locked horns in the one of the matches at Edgbaston in Birmingham. It was a dramatic opening day at the venue as 22 wickets fell with bowlers wrecking havoc as conditions favoured them big time. Middlesex ended the day on top but their skipper Toby Roland-Jones made it to the headlines for some other reasons.
His dismissal in the first innings was most talked about as Jones smashed a six and found a way to get out on the same delivery. The incident happened in the 50th over of the innings as the batter thumped medium pace bowler Ed Barnard for a six over long-on. However, Toby Roland-Jones hit his bat on the stumps in the follow-through of his excellent shot. The wicketkeeper Michael Burgess was smart enough to notice that the bail fell after the bat hit the stumps and eventually, the batter was adjudged hit wicket.
Here's the video:
As far as the match is concerned, Middlesex bowlers skittled Warwickshire for just 60 runs in 22.5 overs with Ethan Bamber picking up a five-wicket haul for just 20 runs. Toby Roland-Jones also led from the front picking three wickets. But Middlesex batters also crumbled in testing conditions and at one stage, were struggling at 77/6. However, the lower-order batters did well to take the team's total to 199 runs and took a first innings lead of 139 runs. In the second essay, Warwickshire batters fared well to end the day on 53/2 after 16 overs.
Coming back to Toby Roland-Jones, he will be disappointed with the way he got out after playing a brilliant shot for a six. However, he will have a job to do with the ball on the second day as Warwickshire will look make a comeback in the match.
