Dent and Klinger lay base for lead over Northants
23 May 2016
Gloucestershire took a methodical grip on this Division 2 Championship match against Northamptonshire with the brisk collection of their three remaining first innings wickets, and then 81 overs of steady batting which produced a first innings lead of 64 by the close.
It could have been even better had Chris Dent not been dismissed for a patient 93 in the penultimate over of the day, and then Hamish Marshall fended a delivery from Gleeson with the new ball straight to Northamptonshire skipper Alex Wakely at leg gully without scoring.
It meant Gloucestershire closed on 240-4, with Michael Klinger 62 not out. Earlier in the day Craig Miles took the last three Northamptonshire first innings wickets as they were dismissed for 176, Miles finishing with figures of 5-65.
Listen to head coach Richard Dawson's close of play thoughts here :
Gloucestershire began the day looking to isolate Steven Crook as the one recognised batsman remaining in the Northamptonshire batting order tried to take the bulk of the strike.
43 not out overnight, Crook completed his half century from 69 balls with his ninth boundary, played through cover on the up off the bowling of David Payne, who shared the opening eight overs with Josh Shaw before Craig Miles accelerated the start of Gloucestershire's innings.
In only 2.4 overs he took all three remaining wickets, starting with Gleeson's gentle lob to Payne at mid-on for 10. Crook, having made 60, then clipped Miles straight to Dent at point before Azharullah - who had already been dropped by Van Buuren - gave Payne his third catch of the innings, again at mid on.
Miles' short burst meant he finished with 5-65, while the consolation for Josh Shaw was that final analysis of 4-52 was still a career best as Northamptonshire were dismissed for 176, the third match in a row where they had failed to register a batting point.
Gloucestershire openers Chris Dent and Gareth Roderick had an hour to bat in the morning session, Roderick being promoted up the order to leave Michael Klinger to bat at number four, and against new ball bowlers Ben Sanderson and Richard Gleeson both men were content to leave a high proportion of the deliveries outside the off stump.
It was a while before Dent a shot with any force, and only three boundaries - all to Roderick - were scored as Gloucestershire reached lunch on 40 without loss.
The Northamptonshire attack continued to struggle with the right hander/left hander combination after the resumption, Dent picking up a couple of boundaries in Sanderson's first over. Otherwise it was an innings reminiscent of his double hundred against Glamorgan last season, with the 25 year old content to let the ball come to him and work it efficiently away.
Roderick had started to time the ball a little more fluently - punching one lovely shot straight past Gleeson - when he pushed half forward to Sanderson and was lbw for 40. The opening stand had been worth 76, and cut the deficit against Northamptonshire's first innings total to exactly 100.
Graeme Van Buuren's stay alongside Dent was brief, Gleeson trapping him lbw for 13, but 60 runs had been added in the afternoon session when Michael Klinger walked to the crease. Both teams probably knew his innings might shape the rest of the match.
There were a couple of optimistic appeals early on - one for a catch down the leg side, and one for lbw - and while Klinger was getting acclimatized Dent broke out of his relentless progress to hit three boundaries in one over off leg spinner Prasanna.
His fifty ticked up in three hours from 124 deliveries, with all five boundaries being confined within two overs. Tea was reached with Gloucestershire only 31 behind, and with the familiar Dent/Klinger partnership beginning to look very much at home.
The pace of Gloucestershire's batting remained largely unchanged for the bulk of the final session, Dent showing some deft placement against off spinner Keogh both straight and square of the wicket.
Klinger's first Championship innings of the summer didn't hit the heights some members have come to expect, but there were still some well timed strokes among eight boundaries in his 108 ball half century.
Northamptonshire were disrupted by a hand injury to wicketkeeper Rossington, so Duckett took the gloves for the last 14 overs, and as Azharullah applied the brake at one end, Dent and Klinger - having put together a century stand - increasingly had one eye on a safe passage to the close.
It was a route headed off by leg spinner Prasanna, who in his last over of the day drew Dent forward on 93 and Levi took the catch at slip. The new ball was then taken for the one over that remained, and in it Gleeson also dismissed Marshall for a duck to turn a dominant position into merely a good one.
Gloucestershire will resume on Tuesday at 240-4, with Michael Klinger 62 not out. The lead is 64, and Gloucestershire will want to extend it as far as they can before Northants get the chance to bat again.
