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Magnificent Langer so close to glory

Somerset (205-4) bt Middlesex (187-7) by two runs (D/L method)

A magnificent 84 from Australian left-hander Justin Langer almost took Middlesex to the brink of an improbable victory.

When Langer came to the crease Middlesex were 40 for three, needing 190 for victory in a rain-reduced innings of 17 overs. By the time Langer was out, Middlesex needed 24 off 13 balls for their second league success over Somerset.

Ben Hutton and Angus Fraser reduced the target to eight off three balls, and ultimately four off one, but Paul Jarvis held his nerve by allowing Hutton only a single.

Somerset were given a fine start by Jamie Cox and Jason Kerr, the pair putting on 144 for the first wicket.

Cox played as well as Langer, his fellow Australian, made 83 off 51 balls, including four sixes and seven fours, but was bowled going for another big hit off off-spinner Keith Dutch, whose figues of two for 38 represented something of a triumph.

Kerr produced an equally valuable 56 off 47 balls with six fours, while Marcus Trescothick weighed in at the end with 36 not out of 15 balls, with four sixes and one four.

One spectator summed up the day's mixture of delays and tricky Duckworth/Lewis calculations perfectly: ``All we need now is Billy Smart's circus to supply the sawdust.''