County Championship: Gloucestershire beat Northants by seven wickets

Ollie Price scored a superb half-century under pressure to help Gloucestershire achieve a dramatic seven-wicket victory over Northamptonshire on the final day of the County Championship Division Two match at the Seat Unique Stadium.

Set 158 to win in 27 overs, Gloucestershire reached their target with 18 balls to spare in a thrilling finale, Price top-scoring with 54 from 58 deliveries and Miles Hammond weighing in with 38 not out and Graeme van Buuren 20 not out as the home side won for only the second time this season.

Resuming on 158-5, Gloucestershire added a further 83 runs during the morning session to establish a modest first-innings lead of 35, thanks in large part to knocks of 63 and 44 from Jack Taylor and van Buuren respectively. Justin Broad claimed 3-82 as the home side were dismissed for 241 in 64 overs.

Ajeet Singh Dale then took 4-46 and Ben Charlesworth 3-6 as Northants were shot out for 192 inside 51 overs in their second innings, only Broad offering meaningful resistance in a patient innings of 49 that spanned nearly two and a half hours.

Charlesworth and Ollie Price set-up the chase, staging a progressive second-wicket alliance of 52 in 8.3 overs to keep Gloucestershire supporters on the edge of their seats. Characterised by rapid running between the wickets and bold stroke-play, their partnership was ended when veteran campaigner Ben Sanderson had Charlesworth caught behind for 33.

Having already lost Luke Procter to injury, the visitors were further hindered when fellow seamer Broad pulled up, forcing Sanderson to bowl seven overs unchanged from the Bristol Pavilion end and spinners Calvin Harrison and Nirvan Ramesh to be deployed in tandem. Sweeping and pulling to good effect, Price and Hammond continued to score at six an over to keep the home side on course, albeit with the light beginning to fade.

With 53 required off the final 10 overs, Gloucestershire looked to be in control, an appearance confirmed when Price went to a half century from 54 balls with his fifth boundary. He fell to Rob Keogh’s off breaks soon afterwards, but van Buuren and Hammond helped themselves to a six apiece off the same bowler to ease the pressure and render the outcome a formality. Hammond hit the winning runs, hammering Harrison straight down the ground for an emphatic six.

Gloucestershire claimed 19 points to move into third place in Division Two, while Northants collected three.

The prospect of a thrilling conclusion appeared unlikely when Gloucestershire resumed their first innings on 158-5, especially when van Buuren skied a return catch to Broad and departed for a 55-ball 44. But quick-scoring Jack Taylor opened his shoulders to raise 63 from 64 deliveries, striking six fours and three sixes and adding 38 in five overs with his brother, Matt, to propel the home side into credit.

Gloucestershire needed to make full use of the new ball if they were to sow seeds of doubt in opposition minds, and Singh Dale delivered, summoning late swing to bowl Lewis McManus for nine. Promoted to open in place of injured captain Luke Procter, Rob Keogh was next to go, falling victim to confusion and being run out by Zaman Akhter for six. Guiding a delivery from Matt Taylor to backward point, Keogh set off in pursuit of an ill-advised single and was unable to regain his ground before the opportunistic Akhter had brilliantly thrown down the stumps to reduce the visitors to 23-2 inside six overs.

West Country tails were up and Singh Dale struck another blow in the final over before lunch, bowling Harrison via an inside edge for 25 in the act of driving as Northants slipped to 55-3, a lead of just 20. Worse followed for the Midlands county, James Sales pulling Shaw straight to Miles Hammond at deep backward square and falling to a poor shot for 14 with the score 77-4. With Procter’s ability to bat in question and the lead only 42, Northants suddenly appeared vulnerable.

When dogged defiance was needed most, the in-form Zaib and Broad dug in to defy Gloucestershire’s bowlers. Batting was now easier than at any time previously in the match, and the fifth wicket pair capitalised on the poor ball sufficiently to raise a partnership of 62 in 14 overs, easing some of the pressure they had felt when first coming together.

But Gloucestershire kept plugging away and Akhter claimed the key wicket of Zaib, slanting a ball across his body and persuading the left hander to edge behind for 37. Gloucestershire’s cause was not helped when Akhter had to be removed from the attack after twice being warned for running onto the pitch. They were further hindered by Aadi Sharma, the new batsman striking a six and 3 fours and scoring 22 at nearly a run a ball as Northants reached tea on 171-5, a lead of 136.

With a minimum 42 overs still available in the final session, Northants were required to muster further resistance. But the advent of Charlesworth, bowling from the Ashley Down Road end, served to revive the home side’s hopes of forcing a result, the all-rounder claiming three wickets in five overs to tip the scales in Gloucestershire’s favour. Sharma was pinned lbw, Procter caught at the wicket without scoring and Sanderson held at deep square leg, much to the delight of enthusiastic home supporters.

When Broad’s dogged defiance finally came to an end, Singh Dale removing him lbw for an obdurate 104-ball 49, Northants were deep in trouble. Singh Dale then rapped Ben Whitehouse on the shins to wrap up the innings and set-up an exciting run chase under the floodlights.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay