Northamptonshire 198 (Keogh 75*, Roland-Jones 4-53) and 120 for 3 (Whiteman 60*) beat Middlesex 149 (Higgins 70, Sanderson 3-19, Tremain 3-34) and 167 (Roland-Jones 37, Eskinazi 37, Tremain 3-41) by seven wickets

Whiteman, the Western Australian captain who lifted the Sheffield Shield just last month, played positively for his unbeaten 60, striking seven fours and a six as Northamptonshire reached their target of 119 with seven wickets to spare just before lunch.

Conditions were testing early on and Middlesex’s bowlers worked hard, finding plenty of movement on a slow surface to restrict scoring and keep the pressure on the batting side who were repeatedly drawn into playing and missing outside off-stump.

At that stage, Northamptonshire still needed another 67 to win but Whiteman, who had managed just 26 in his first three innings for Northamptonshire, took the attack to Middlesex, striking consecutive boundaries off Roland-Jones, cutting him behind square and then clipping him through the on-side. He treated a short ball from Tom Helm with disdain, pulling it authoritatively for four before driving the same bowler through mid-off for another boundary.

Middlesex thought they had made the breakthrough when Whiteman cut Helm just short of gully on 32 but he continued to play freely, greeting the late entry of Luke Hollman by cutting the leg-spinner away for four and then pulling Helm for six before bringing up his half-century off 75 deliveries. He was well supported too by his captain, Luke Procter, who was happy to play the anchor role and finished 16 not out.

With just five needed to win for Northamptonshire, Middlesex turned to part-time bowler Sam Robson before Whiteman pulled him through midwicket for four to seal victory.