HAVING set their last opponents 125 in 254 overs and still won the game, defending 195 in 40 overs should have been a stroll in the park for Derbyshire.

Sadly, cricket is never so straightforward and the Falcons were beaten by seven wickets by Middlesex in their final Clydesdale Bank 40 League match of the season at Lord's on Saturday.

Just as he was in that incredible Championship victory at Bristol, Chesney Hughes was the mainstay of the Derbyshire innings with 64 but a score of 195-9, after being put in to bat first, was not enough this time.

Scott Newman, scorer of a century in the Championship at the County Ground 10 days earlier, got the Panthers off to a flying start on his way to 90 and they made the runs they needed with 11 balls to spare.

Hughes, back to the scene of his splendid four-day debut earlier this season, stayed strong again as Derbyshire found early trouble at 32-3 in the seventh over but good support in a fourth-wicket partnership of 82 in 16 overs with Wayne Madsen.

This was Hughes' sixth limited-overs half-century of the season and his fourth in the last six CB40 matches – a very good record, though it would have been nicer to see him push on further in at least one of them.

The innings took him only 59 balls and included six fours and a six but ended with more frustrated swishes of the bat on the way back to the pavilion when he was caught at mid off at 114-4 in the 23rd over.

Two more quick wickets took the steam out of the Derbyshire innings, as young left-arm spinner Tom Smith got through a tidy eight overs with 3-26.

It was Smith who ended Madsen's stay for 39, stumped after dancing down the wicket, and Jake Needham's dismissal at the beginning of the 35th over left the Falcons in danger of falling well short at 156-8.

But Graham Wagg, in what may be his last appearance for the county, depending whether or not Glamorgan seal promotion this week, was joined by Ian Hunter, playing for the first time this season, in a stand of 39 that put a shinier veneer on the total.

Wagg finished 48 not out off 53 balls with six fours and when he bowled England captain Andrew Strauss in his second over to make Middlesex 12-1, the script was prepared for a heroic swansong.

But Derbyshire could not get past the aggressive Newman until he had influenced the outcome too heavily. He did give a tough chance on 38, when Wes Durston could not hold on above his head to a solid pull to midwicket, but when Newman was caught at short cover in the 26th over, Middlesex were in good shape at 139-2.

Needham was the man to take Newman's wicket and he also added Dawid Malan's to a sharp catch at slip by Jon Clare to finish with a very good 2-25 in eight overs.

Instead of Wagg, it was Owais Shah who had the satisfaction of signing off with the winning contribution.

Shah is being released by Middlesex and this was his last limited-overs fixture for them. He finished with an unbeaten 58 as the target was reached with little fuss.

Another 20 or 30 runs would surely have given them plenty more to think about but there have been too many if-onlys in one-day matches for Derbyshire this season.