Gloucestershire hold their nerve in tense win
Gloucestershire's seam bowlers held their nerve to beat Northamptonshire in a thrilling finale at Bristol and keep alive their prospects of reaching the semi-finals of the Clydesdale Bank 40
Cricinfo staff
23-May-2010
Gloucestershire's seam bowlers held their nerve to beat Northamptonshire in a thrilling finale at Bristol and keep alive their prospects of reaching the semi-finals of the Clydesdale Bank 40. Needing victory to close the gap on Group B leaders Yorkshire to two points, the Gloucestershire stood up under pressure to win by seven runs, despite the best efforts of David Sales.
Northants were always in with a chance of chasing down a victory target of 193, but instead accurate bowling from Anthony Ireland and the wily Jon Lewis earned the hosts a third success in four outings. Northants needed 14 runs to win from the last two overs only to fall short in the face of clever variation in pace with Sales unbeaten on 59.
Sales had threatened to take the game away from Gloucestershire as he put on a sixth-wicket stand of 73 in 12 overs with Andrew Hall. But Gloucestershire refused to panic, kept the run rate in check courtesy of a miserly spell of 2 for 20 in eight overs from slow left-armer Vikram Banerjee and fielded with an intensity that proved too much for their opponents.
Hall's departure, caught at short fine leg off a knee-high full toss from Lewis for 37 in the 36th over, proved a turning point, and from then on Lewis and Ireland deprived Sales of the strike.
Gloucestershire were indebted to skipper Alex Gidman for steering them to a competitive total after they won the toss and slipped to 77 for 4 at the halfway stage. Batting proved far from straightforward on a two-paced pitch, the top order struggling to take advantage of the power plays as Northants took a stranglehold on the game.
James Franklin was caught attempting to drive a ball of full length from Jack Brooks, Jonathan Batty chipped David Willey to point without scoring and Will Porterfield edged a catch behind to become the first of four victims claimed for veteran South African allrounder Hall.
Hamish Marshall played defensively down the wrong line and was bowled by Northants captain Nicky Boje as wickets continued to tumble and, when Chris Taylor was pinned lbw playing back to Lee Daggett, half of Gloucestershire's batsmen were back in the pavilion with 105 runs on the board and only 14 overs remaining.
Gidman was joined by Steve Snell and the sixth-wicket pair set about repairing the damage with a stand of 76 in 12 overs. Snell chanced his arm on more than one occasion and was the only player to score at a run a ball or better, raising 41 from 40 deliveries and helping himself to five fours to put the visitors on the back foot for the first time.
In contrast, Gidman's innings was a painstaking affair, comprising 86 balls and including just three boundaries, yet contributing 61 crucial runs. Hall ensured Gloucestershire did not go past the 200 mark, exploiting his full repertoire of slower balls and yorkers to bowl Snell and Gidman and have Ireland caught at short fine leg to finish with 4 for 39 from seven overs.
