MARK PETTINI hailed the impact of the returning Reece Topley as Essex beat Middlesex by eight wickets in their T20 opener at Lord's today (Saturday).
Pettini stood in as captain for the game in the absence of one-day skipper Ryan ten Doeschate, and he played a captain's innings, recording his highest T20 score of 95 not out to help his side chase down a target of 181.
He was aided by some explosive late hitting by Ravi Bopara, who hit three boundaries and three sixes on his way to 45 not out to fire his side to victory.
But while Pettini praised the impact of the England man, he also hailed the late impact of Topley, who took 3-26 to help restrict Middlesex to 180-5 after superb knocks from Eoin Morgan (77) and Dawid Malan (86no).
"It was a brilliant spell," said Pettini.
"He has been out with a stress fracture [in his back], but to come back and bowl like he did when we were being hit around the park a bit was brilliant.
"He thrives on that and he did fantastic for us."
And Pettini said that keeping Middlesex to 180 on a good wicket was key to his side's successful chase, as the Eagles reached their target with seven balls to spare.
"Momentum is a key thing, particularly in T20," he said.
"It took a lot of hard work in the field to keep them to 180, but that was key for us and it gave us a lot of confidence going into our innings."
