Middlesex humbled by minor upstarts

Herefordshire stunned Middlesex yesterday, dumping the first-class side out of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy with a three-wicket victory at Luctonians.

Nicholas Davies, coming in at No 7, smashed an unbeaten 39 off 27 balls to see the part-timers past the county side's 278 on the penultimate ball.

Angus Fraser's men, top of the County Championship Second Division but bottom but one in the one-day National League, had earlier looked to have put the tie beyond Herefordshire's reach with Owais Shah (41), David Nash (58), Robin Weston (47) and Michael Roseberry (46) among the runs.

The home side set about their stiff challenge with relish, however, with Nathan Round (66) and man-of-the-match Harshad Patel (68) sharing a 129-run opening partnership.

Phil Tufnell looked to have saved Middlesex with a tight 10-over spell, conceding just 15 runs while taking one wicket, but the former Northamptonshire wicketkeeper Ismail Dawood reignited victory hopes with a rapid 34, before Davies and Aamir Farooque guaranteed Herefordshire a fourth-round tie against Worcestershire on 11 July.

A superb 119 by the 18-year-old Nicky Peng carried Durham to a seven-wicket victory with almost 10 overs to spare over Hampshire at Chester-le-Street – their first win in the premier knock-out competition against first-class opposition since 1992.