Dent and Tavare help erase Durham lead
23 April 2017
Half centuries by Chris Dent and Will Tavare - in both cases their second of the match - cancelled out a gritty 97 by Durham captain Paul Collingwood to leave this Specsavers Division 2 Championship match finely balanced with one day remaining.
In pleasant conditions for late April, Collingwood helped his side go from 270-4 overnight to 419 all out, a lead of 116. His own innings, which lasted more than four and a half hours, looked destined to reach three figures before he tried to reverse sweep Graeme van Buuren and was caught at slip.
It left Gloucestershire with a minimum of 53 overs for Gloucestershire to bat on the day after Craig Miles had taken 5-99, and although Bancroft and Tavare were out by the time the deficit was erased, they reached stumps at 175-3, 59 runs ahead with Chris Dent 64 not out - the eighth half century of the match.
Listen to Craig Miles' views on his five wickets and match situation here:
Gloucestershire began the day needing quick wickets with a ball which was only eight overs old to prevent Durham tactically pushing them onto the back foot. In the end, it was well after lunch before they were batting in their second innings.
The chief reason for that was the overnight pair of Durham skipper Paul Collingwood and Michael Richardson, who extended their fifth wicket stand to 122, the highest of the match.
All three boundaries early on were conceded by David Payne as he and Liam Norwell formed Gloucestershire's opening attack but neither batsman appeared in any hurry, despite only 22 overs being available for Durham to add to their tally of batting points.
It was an hour after play began that Richardson, who had survived a big appeal for a catch at the wicket off Norwell, punched Miles past point to bring up not only his own fifty (130 balls, 4x4) but also the century partnership.
Collingwood reached his half century in Miles' next over, having struck five boundaries and faced 112 balls, and Durham's lead was 32 before Miles picked up the first of three wickets on the day, Richardson being caught behind for 57 off a bottom edge.
Two more wickets fell before lunch, Miles bowling Poynter for nine and Norwell removing Carse (7) with the aid of another Mustard catch, but Durham had still secured a fourth batting point and added 102 runs in the session to lead by 69.
Collingwood had used all his experience to manoeuvre the Durham innings and from 78 not out a hundred looked a certainty if the lower order could stay with him. Wood (13) played a couple of very respectable drives through the covers before chipping Payne to Liddle at mid on, and Onions brought up the 400 as the unruffled Collingwood inched towards his century. He was nine runs short when Miles picked up his fifth wicket, Taylor easily getting under Onions' top edge, at which point the shackles were off.
Attacking Graeme van Buuren, Collingwood lofted the left arm spinner to the long on boundary and worked the next ball through the covers for two. One more boundary would have done the trick, only for the Durham skipper to see a reverse sweep spoon up into the hands of Hankins at slip. Few would have begrudged him three more runs.
As it was, despite Miles taking 5-99, Durham's first innings total was still 419, which gave them a lead of 116. A minimum of 53 overs remained in the day, and a modest lead by the end of it appeared a reasonable target, but that was before a rapid start to Gloucestershire's second innings.
Rushworth was the source of half a dozen boundaries in his opening spell, Bancroft and Dent both profiting as the visitors chased wickets with an attacking field although the shaven headed Rushworth proved the stand breaker, trapping Bancroft lbw for 13.
Tavare then joined Dent, and as in the first innings their partnership was a fruitful one, with Gloucestershire scoring more quickly than might have been expected even if the boundaries dried up against Wood, Carse and Onions.
A pie chart would have shown the majority of Dent's runs were scored square of the wicket, while Tavare refused to be bogged down either and by tea Gloucestershire had cut the deficit to 40 at 76-1. After it however, Tavare was at the centre of a specific tactical ploy.
To prevent the right hander working the ball on the leg side against Mark Wood, Durham employed a leg slip, a leg gully and a short leg in front of square. There were some anxious moments, but two shots over the close catchers brought up a 70 ball fifty with six boundaries - only for an occasional leg spinner to get him out.
Cameron Steel's Championship debut was chiefly as a batsman, so Tavare will have been furious to chop his third delivery onto his off stump for 55 with Gloucestershire one run behind.
21 overs still remained although Steel, having arguably done his job, was to bowl only two more. Dent pulled Onions through mid wicket when he replaced Steel, and he continued to ease away the occasional cover drive after he was joined by van Buuren, his second half century of the match being completed from 107 balls with six fours.
Onions' removal of van Buuren, who was lbw for 23, left George Hankins an awkward spell to see out with Dent until the close, but Gloucestershire reached stumps 59 ahead with seven wickets in hand, and all four results are still possible on the final day.
