Dawson encouraged by batting despite defeat
29 April 2015
A spirited seventh wicket stand of 94 between Hamish Marshall and James Fuller wasn't enough to prevent defeat to Derbyshire in Gloucestershire's first home Championship match of the season at the County Ground.
Fuller made only the second fifty of his career in first class matches, while Marshall's steely 79 was only ended by yet another top class catch from Martin Guptill, who set up the Derbyshire win with a double century on the second afternoon.
In the end, they were left to chase 142 in 53 overs, and comfortably reached their target shortly after 5 o'clock to win by 7 wickets.
It always looked a tall order for Marshall - 48 not out overnight - to steer his remaining colleagues through two sessions to make the finish a genuine one, but runs came quickly in the first hour as Derbyshire sought the four wickets they needed.
Gaps were left in the covers early on and the tall Fuller, who joined Marshall at the start of play, was happy to push forward at anything on a good length and collected no fewer than four boundaries through the same area. Three of them were off Footitt, before he brought up a well constructed fifty partnership by driving Taylor straight to the boundary in front of the pavilion.
Marshall took more than half an hour to add the two runs needed for his fifty, which he eventually completed with seven fours off 134 balls. Fuller, however, compensated with some pleasing strokes, reaching his first fifty since the match with Leicestershire at Cheltenham in 2012 with his ninth boundary.
Footitt twice bowled bouncers which cleared wicketkeeper Hosein and went to the fence as Derbyshire sought a breakthrough, which finally came when he pitched one further up and bowled Fuller for 51. Critically, Footitt struck again before lunch, Guptill plucking out another top class catch to remove Marshall for 79.
It was going to need something similar to Miles and Norwell's record tenth wicket stand at Cheltenham last year to make life difficult for Derbyshire here, and Gloucestershire could only add 32 for the final two wickets after lunch.
Norwell was enticed by a wide one from Footitt and his swish was edged to Hosein, and Taylor departed without scoring. The victory target was therefore set at 142, a difficult one for skipper Geraint Jones to tactically work with.
Time was not an issue for Derbyshire and their target was modest, so Gloucestershire had to create some pressure by taking wickets. Godleman and Slater however, were in no mood to fritter away a match winning position.
By tea, they had put on 63 in 18 overs, and the pattern was maintained afterwards in virtually error free fashion until Slater clipped Fuller to Will Tavare at square leg for 25. Almost immediately, Godleman, who had made 51, edged Taylor to Dent at second slip. Dent took another catch late on to remove skipper Madsen off Fuller, but it was fitting that Guptill, following his decisive innings on Monday, should be there to seal victory with 19 overs remaining.
Gloucestershire's next challenge is against early Division 2 leaders Essex at Chelmsford starting on Sunday.
