Spoilers

Last season Middlesex was on top of the Twenty20 pile in England. They won the title, but were deprived of the opportunity to pit their skills against the best of the Indian Premier League for non-cricketing reasons. They played and lost in the ill-fated Stanford Series. So serious was their loss of form that they had not won a single Twenty20 match since last season's final.

Middlesex's defence of their trophy had long since ended in ignominious failure and shorn of the services of the talented Australian sensation Philip Hughes, currently with Ricky Ponting's side they looked a weaker batting line-up as well, but Neil Dexter and Owais Shah relished the role of playing the role of spoilers after Billy Godelman was dismissed cheaply. Dexter and Shah raced to a century partnership, before being parted in the fifteenth over.

Shah produced another attacking innings, scoring 49 from 39 balls with two sixes and three fours, obviously finding Essex's attack to his liking. He perished as he often does chasing a maximum shot, but his lofted drive ran out of gas and presented Graham Napier with a simple catch at the long-on boundary to give Danish Kaneria the first of his two wickets.

His Final Match:

Kaneria joined Essex late and he will leave early. The Pakistani spinner has been called up by his country for the tour of Sri Lanka, the first time the good friends of cricket will meet in Test Matches since the atrocity at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore nearly four months ago. Kaneria had a point to prove at least in terms of Twenty20 cricket.

He was left out of Pakistan's team and had to watch Younus Khan's team deliver an unlikely success. This was Kaneria's last match for Essex before leaving for Sri Lanka. He took 2 for 37 – not great figures, but the wickets were important ones Shah and the very dangerous Dexter, whose 73 enabled Middlesex to set a competitive total of 166 for 5.

Dexter hit ten boundaries – four of which were sixes – in his 51-balls 73. His knock was ended by possibly the best wicket-keeper England have, but the preference for keepers who can bat costs him. James Foster gave Kaneria the farewell present of Dexter's wicket by neatly stumping him. Kaneria took an easy catch to dismiss the Irishmaan, Eoin Morgan, who recently opted to play for England.

The Reply:

Essex had recent history on their side as they began their chase – Middlesex's Twenty20 form was wretched and this more than any other format is one driven by momentum. Middlesex's confidence should be rock bottom, but Essex seemed nervous. Younus Khan knows a thing or two about Twenty20 cricket. He thinks it is fun because it is entertaining, but he also spoke of the importance of partnerships, both with bat and ball.

Varun Chopra offered resistance to bowlers who suddenly found their form. He easily top-scored with 51, although the manner of his dismissal was ugly, over-balancing to be bowled behind his legs. His vigil lasted 42 balls and included five fours, but the scorecard told the story.

Nobody stayed with Chopra long enough to build momentum and give the supposedly form-team a chance to win. The best partnership was just 39 between Chopra and Grant Flower and the second highest score was Foster's 19 before he suffered the indignity of being stumped by Ben Scott, made even worse by being a wicket for such an occasional bowler as Dawid Malan. Kaneria's final contribution before joining his national team was to be last man out, comfortably run out by Scott for 8. Essex lost by 23 runs and Middlesex prepared to meet the old enemy Surrey on Saturday afternoon with a long-overdue Twenty20 win under their belts, even though there is nothing but pride at stake as both teams prop up the group.