Five-for Parry lights up Trafalgar Road triumph

The Red Rose men wrapped up an eight-wicket win against title holders Middlesex at Trafalgar Road.

This was a fine performance from Lancashire, who shrugged off their recent drubbing by Yorkshire to inflict a first Championship defeat on the visitors since September 2015 – a run of 21 games – in what was effectively a three-day affair after Saturday’s total wash out.

Lancs’ head coach Glen Chapple said: “We faced a challenge after Yorkshire and I think we’ve come through that brilliantly.

“The lads have out in a great team performance and defeated a team that haven’t been beaten since 2015 so we’re delighted with that.

“When you face your first loss of the season it’s always a mental challenge, so it’s nice to come back from a loss with a performance like that.”

Hameed, who has been in awful form for his county this season, scored a characteristically patient 38 unbeaten from 81 balls as Lancashire passed their target of 108 with a flourish, thanks to straight six from skipper Steven Croft, who finished not out on 34.

Faced with the modest total, Lancashire lost their first wicket in the final over before the lunch interval when wicketkeeper Alex Davies edged Toby Roland Jones to his fellow gloveman John Simpson for 13.

Following the interval, Liam Livingstone joined Hameed at the crease, with the 23-year-old celebrating his call-up to England’s squad for the three-match NatWest IT20 series against South Africa with a characteristically energetic 22.

But a three-ball sequence saw him dropped at second slip by James Franklin, and hit on the gloves by Roland Jones, before edging one behind.

The day had started with Middlesex holding a slender 27-run lead with four wickets in hand but that became three after half-an-hour’s play when James Harris edged a steepling delivery from Ryan McLaren to Davies for 19.

Fifteen minutes later and Davies had another victim when Dawid Malan’s resistance ended following a battling 52 as he got another good one from McLaren.

That left Middlesex on 180-8 and staring down the barrel but Tim Murtagh and Roland Jones had other ideas as they biffed and bludgeoned their way to a 49 partnership, before Murtagh was stumped off the bowling of Parry for 27.

A lead of 100 gave Middlesex a whiff of a chance if they could add another 30 to 40 runs but it was not to be as Parry picked up his fifth wicket with Roland Jones out lbw for 31 off 32 balls.